Legalize recreational marijuana, tax at 15%, South Dakota pot panel says

The South Dakota Legislature should legalize, regulate and tax recreational marijuana, according to a panel of lawmakers who’ve spent months studying cannabis policy.

The Marijuana Interim Study Committee wrapped up the work it began last spring Wednesday, when it formally adopted a recommendation to be sent to the full Legislature that would end South Dakota’s prohibition on marijuana use, cultivation and sales. It also recommends establishing a 15% tax on the sale of cannabis products in the state.

“I’m not a supporter of marijuana but I’m trying to make sure that if we’re going to have it, we’ve got a good, solid regulatory system that is in the middle somewhere,” said committee co-chair Rep. Hugh Bartels, R-Watertown. “That controls the product, makes sure it’s safe, makes sure it stays away from our children as much as we can, and that it pays for itself.”

The recommendation calls for allowing dispensaries, testing and cultivation facilities to be licensed by the state while allowing local governments to establish restrictions and prohibitions of their own. It would not allow growing of cannabis in private residences.

The 15% tax rate being recommended mirrors what voters passed in Constitutional Amendment A, the ballot measure that sought to legalize recreational marijuana in November 2020 but is tied up in court following a legal challenge by a pair of South Dakota law enforcement officers and Gov. Kristi Noem. [Read more at Sioux Falls Argus Leader]