SD legislators change a key rule on medical marijuana

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — A state lawmaker doesn’t want South Dakota’s medical marijuana program changing how it determines risks and benefits.

But the Legislature’s Rules Review Committee has let the changes go ahead.

The panel voted 5-1 Tuesday to let the state Department of Health remove a requirement from how the department decides whether a debilitating condition qualifies.

The department no longer will need to determine whether “Treatments currently available for the proposed condition are either ineffective or produce harmful side effects.”

The department also received the green light to rewrite the wording in a related requirement.

The existing rule said, “Medical use of cannabis will provide therapeutic or palliative benefits that outweigh the risks of cannabis use.” That now will be changed to read, “Medical use of cannabis is determined to provide benefits that outweigh the risks of cannabis use.”

Tim Engel, a Pierre lawyer representing the South Dakota State Medical Association, spoke against those specific changes. Representative Kevin Jensen agreed. The Canton Republican said there would no longer be any way for determining what benefits are.

Ali Schaefbauer, an attorney for the department, said those proposed rules match changes the Legislature made earlier this year in Senate Bill 4.

The new law removed the “therapeutic or palliative benefits” requirement from the medical certification a patient must receive from a physician or other practitioner to apply for a medical marijuana card. [Read More @ Keloland News]