STURGIS, S.D. – The Meade County Commission has approved an ordinance that will temporarily govern the issuance of licenses for medical marijuana establishments.
Voters in November approved Initiated Measure 26, legalizing the use of medical marijuana in the state.
The county will issue one dispensary license, but for now, no licenses will be issued for testing, cultivation, or product manufacturing facilities.
That’s because the state has until October 29th to open up an application process for both medical marijuana cards and licenses for both commercial growers and sellers of medical marijuana. Since medical marijuana becomes legal on July 1, however, the commission wanted to have something in place before then.
Meade County Deputy States Attorney Ken Chleborad drafted both a temporary ordinance and full ordinance regulating medical cannabis establishments for the count to consider. He says the county only has to approve one license. Commissioners set the fee for that license at $50,000.
Commissioners believe the temporary ordinance, which includes a moratorium on accepting and approving any applications for local licenses, would be best for the county to adopt while waiting for the state to come up with their rules.
