South Dakota

A "practitioner" authorized to certify patients for the South Dakota Medical Cannabis Program is licensed with authority to prescribe drugs to humans in South Dakota, and is a

• physician
• physician assistant, or a
• advanced practice registered nurse 

Practitioners must register with the South Dakota Medical Cannabis Program before certifying patients. Registration is completed through the practitioner portal at medcannabisapplication.sd.gov. Guidance on the practitioner registration and certification process is available at medcannabis.sd.gov/certification/ProviderProcessGuidance.aspx.

A practitioner may certify a patient who is diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition as defined in SDCL 34-20G-1(8). A debilitating medical condition is a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition, or its treatment, that produces one or more of the following:

• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Severe, debilitating pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures
• Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis

Additionally, the following conditions qualify under the statute as amended by 2023 Senate Bill 1:

• Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Cancer, if associated with severe or chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, or cachexia or severe wasting
• Crohn's disease
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson's disease
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Conditions not listed in the statute may be added by the South Dakota Department of Health through the petition process established in ARSD 44:90:13. Petitions may be submitted by any South Dakota resident.

Certification is completed through the South Dakota Medical Cannabis practitioner portal. The written certification must:

• Be dated and signed by the practitioner
• State that the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the medical use of cannabis to treat or alleviate the patient's debilitating medical condition
• Affirm that the certification is made in the course of a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship, including an in-person physical examination at the initial visit

When a practitioner certifies a patient, the certifying practitioner must notify the patient's primary care practitioner or referring practitioner if the certifying practitioner is not that practitioner.

A practitioner may not certify a patient if the practitioner is employed by or has a financial interest in a medical cannabis establishment.

Medical cannabis establishments are prohibited from sharing office space with practitioners and from referring patients to practitioners.

The South Dakota Medical Cannabis Program does not publish a list of participating practitioners or those who certify patients.

Registry identification cards expire annually. Patients must obtain a new written certification from their practitioner each year as part of the renewal process. The practitioner must complete a new in-person assessment before issuing a renewal certification.

Medical professionals have a legal right to recommend cannabis as a treatment in any state, as protected by the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (Title III section 301) which became law on December 2, 2022, and the First Amendment (established by a 2004 United States Supreme Court decision to uphold earlier federal court rulings that doctors, and their patients have a fundamental Constitutional right to freely discuss treatment options).

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