South Dakota medical cannabis registration fees about to double

South Dakota medical cannabis operators soon will have to pay almost double for their registration certificates.

The cost of an annual registration is rising from $5,310 to $9,000 under a new law, Sioux Falls-based TV station KELO reported.

According to KELO, the fee increase will impact:

• 78 dispensaries.
• 40 cultivators.
• 21 manufacturers.
• Three testing facilities, including the state public health laboratory.

Senate Bill 43 – which Gov. Kristi Noem signed into law March 14, after it passed both chambers – takes effect July 1.

The new law requires the South Dakota health department, which regulates the state’s MMJ program, to raise the registration fee to $9,000 no later than Sept. 30, KELO noted.

South Dakota voters legalized medical marijuana in November 2020, and the first sales began almost two years later.

The law that legalized the MMJ program set the maximum registration fee at $5,000.

But the law and state regulations called for the fee to be adjusted annually for inflation, according to KELO, which is how the cost grew to $5,310.

Meanwhile, South Dakota voters in November will get to weigh in for the third time in four years on whether to legalize recreational marijuana in the state: