A medical marijuana program becomes law in about a month.
But state officials say medical cannabis won’t be available until 2022.
The law gives the state until October to set up a licensing system.
State Secretary of Health Kim Malsam Rysdon says that pushes things back.
“The idea is that no body would be eligible to be growing until they’re approved,” Malsam Rysdon says. “That in and of itself backs it up. Then, by the time you’ve grown a crop and harvested it and cultivated it and done all the things to make sure it’s safe—it just adds to the timeline.”
One state official says it takes about 90 days to grow a usable plant from seed to product ready for sale.
The state is contracting with a cannabis consulting group. The group is analyzing how many South Dakotans may be eligible for a medical marijuana card.
Secretary Malsam Rysdon says about 3,200 North Dakotans are approved for medical marijuana.
State lawmakers are spending the summer studying marijuana after voters approved both recreational and medical cannabis in November. Opponents sued to stop recreational weed, and the case is pending with the state Supreme Court.
