West River Republicans making cannabis rules for counties, municipalities

Even before legal gambling came to the Gulch I've taken my proposal to mayors and council members to make Deadwood a non-tribal cannabis destination but they have always blown me off because they wanted the sports betting gig. So my position today is that the tribes must have exclusive production and distribution privileges. 

But in my home state of South Dakota local control is Republican control where city and county governments are dragging their feet on cannabis ordinances until the state's supreme court makes a decision on Amendment A legalizing for all adults. In the meantime, control of therapeutic herb is being argued by the various factions of the SDGOP so home growing is likely doomed.

Having lived in the Black Hills for nearly thirty years, twenty two of them in Lawrence County it's not surprising that the county commission there is proposing to take bids for a single dispensary despite a Planning and Zoning Commission plan for three but where it would be located remains a mystery. A government-owned store next to the police department in Spearditch is not impossible.

Meade County, home of a Veterans Administration medical center and to the infamous Sturgis Rally, is also planning a single dispensary that will cost an applicant a whopping $125,000 so expect Buffalo Chip owner Rod Woodruff to snatch that up. The county has yet to pass an ordinance for licenses to a grow/op, a testing lab or a cannabis product manufacturing facility. The Sturgis City Council has approved two dispensaries. The Summerset City Council allows for one dispensary.

Rapid City's Common Council is proposing fifteen dispensaries for therapeutic cannabis. Longtime Rapid City Republican catholic lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy is representing Big Dope during negotiations so expect municipal dispensaries to have to buy from a single no bid supplier, probably New York-based Columbia Care.

Butte County is considering up to $25,000 for an application fee and a dispensary could be run by the City of Belle Fourche. A municipal dispensary could also happen in Fall River County but in a southern Black Hills town named for a war criminal an application will cost $50,000. Tourist trap Keystone has approved two dispensaries. 

There is no relationship between the state's therapeutic cannabis program and Native Nations Cannabis on the Flandreau Santee Sioux Nation which is very different from states like Washington that operate with a compact. East River, Native Nations is struggling to keep up with demand.