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South Dakota Legislative Panel Recommends Tighter Regulations On Medical Marijuana And Hemp Products

Published

9 months ago

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“This commission, in my opinion, has only made it harder for patients to get access to medical cannabis.”

The A rift between a South Dakota oversight board and the state’s medical marijuana industry It unfolded in Pierre on Tuesday, when the commission passed 11 motions, some of which called for stricter regulations.

The motions were not made public prior to the meeting, and the committee did not take public comment on individual motions. The committee acted on the motions, with four of the 11 members of the group not present.

The intentions of the Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee to propose and pass some of the motions were unclear. The motions were not introduced as formal proposals to change the rules or as bills for the legislative session, which begins in January.

The themes of the motions varied widely and included recommendations for stricter regulation of the medical marijuana industry, and intoxicating products sold outside the industry in convenience stores and statements of support or recommendations on smoke shops and other topics.

“I think these are just motions, right?” said Sen. Lauren Nelson, R-Yankton, a committee member. “So some of these motions that passed today may never be heard again. Some of these motions may become bills that one of us, someone else in the Legislature, can carry, and then we can have our debate.”

Medical marijuana industry lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy asked that the minutes reflect that no prior public notice of the motions was given and no public comment was made on the individual motions.

“If you want to just call these ‘motions’, that’s fine,” Murphy said, “But the key is that they’re not considered anything like legislation because they weren’t published beforehand. The bill or resolution has to be published before the hearing.”

The votes ended a combative meeting that was similar in tone to the commission’s previous meeting two weeks ago. That earlier meeting drew industry complaints about a guest speaker list that presented mostly negative views on marijuana.

of the committee membership It consists of four members of parliament and seven non-legislators, including members of the medical, counseling, law enforcement and patient communities. The committee members missing Tuesday were all nonlegislators: Francine Arneson, Kristi Palmer, Andrew Schock and Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum.

At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, the commission took public comments from individuals, each limited to two minutes.

Kittrick Jeffries, of Puffy’s Dispensary in Rapid City, said the panel “was clarifying issues that voters decided five years ago.” South Dakota voters legalized medical marijuana in 2020, and the state implemented the program in 2022. There are 17,137 sick card holders in the state.

“This commission, in my view, has only made it harder for patients to get access to medical cannabis,” Jeffries said.

Emmett Reistroffer, with Genesis Farms Cannabis Company, called the panel a “show committee” and questioned the motivation of Rep. Josephine Garcia, R-Watertown, who said she sponsored unsuccessful legislation earlier this year to repeal the state’s medical marijuana program.

“I don’t think there’s any business running an oversight committee on a program that you publicly opposed in the last legislative session,” Reistroffer said. “Of course you don’t like what I have to say, but I have two minutes. I’m a citizen of the state of South Dakota.”

Because of this, Garcia silenced Reistroffer, but then turned him off.

“You can’t silence a member of the public,” Reistroffer said breaking the silence. The action “further reinforces that it is a show committee.”

Garcia was silent again.

“The reason they gave that knight was for a lot of reasons,” Garcia said. He said they had “things online that were defaming me or what they were doing to me.”

He added: “I think I’ve been fair, more than fair, and it’s just a shame.”

In further public comment, Rep. Travis Ismay, R-Newell, who is not a member of the committee, complained that a state health inspector was seen hugging an industry representative outside the chamber. Ismay was the lead sponsor of the Garcia-sponsored bill to repeal the medical marijuana program, and previously tried to put a repeal initiative on the ballot.

“I don’t think they’re that reliable,” Ismay said of the industry in general.

Health Department Secretary Melissa Magstadt responded that no Health Department inspectors were present at the meeting. Ismay returned to the microphone, saying he “maybe misspoke or something,” claiming that he misidentified the people he saw.

Genesis Farms lobbyist Mitch Richter pointed to a previous board meeting in which Garcia, a physician, said a former patient of his used artificial intelligence to falsify documents to obtain medical marijuana, buy 3 ounces and sell them for $10,000 a week.

Richter said the allegations “do not hold water.”

“If you make $10,000 on 3 ounces of marijuana, I want to talk to you,” said Richter, who also said the commission should be repealed.

Reistroffer told the South Dakota Searchlight that 3 ounces of medical marijuana typically sell for around $600.

Garcia repeatedly defended the commission and himself, saying the panel was still in its oversight mandate and that the actions taken were “just motions.”

“For those who were disrespectful, shame on you,” he said.

Photo by Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.

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Fluent to sell New York license and operations

Published

2 weeks ago

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July 30, 2026

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Fluent has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Etain, LLC, the Company’s New York-based operating entity. The purchase agreement was signed on July 22, 2026. The transaction provides for the sale of Etain’s Registered Entity license, certain of the Company’s New York operating assets and related New York leases for cash, subject to customary purchase price adjustments.

The Company believes the Transaction advances its strategic objectives and expects the Transaction to comply with applicable regulatory requirements in connection with the Company’s previously announced plan of arrangement for Vireo Growth Inc. (the “Deal”) while providing for an orderly transition of the New York operations to an experienced operator committed to serving patients and consumers.

Completion of the free transaction is subject to closing conditions, including, among other customary conditions, approval of the change in ownership by the New York State Cannabis Control Board and the completion of all conditions to the completion of the Agreement.

For more information:
FLUENT Corp
getfluent.com/










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Marijuana Has ‘Horrific Health Risks’ And No Medical Value, Former Trump Attorney General Claims

Published

2 weeks ago

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July 30, 2026

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A former US attorney general who served in President Donald Trump’s first term says marijuana poses “tremendous health risks,” has no medical value and should not be rescheduled under federal law.

“Marijuana redistricting would create a false impression that it is safe, reduce penalties for illegally selling the drug, and provide a large tax windfall to those who legally supply it,” William Barr wrote in a Wednesday op-ed for The Washington Post, Kevin Sabet, CEO of the prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana. “That would be a disaster.”

The opinion comes as the Trump administration moves forward with cannabis reregulation.

According to an order issued in April by US Attorney General Todd Blanche, Marijuana products regulated by a state medical cannabis license were immediately changed from Schedule I As did marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

an administrator The hearing is looking at the broader rescheduling of marijuanawith The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been tasked with advocating for cannabis reform highlighting the testimony about the medical benefits of marijuana and its relative safety compared to other substances such as alcohol and opioids. It included appearances by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist and a doctor from New Hampshire. Medical marijuana provides relief to pain patients and can serve as an alternative to opioids.

But Sabet and Barr, who served as Trump’s attorney general from 2019-2020, argued that “the evidence presented at the hearing did not support the rescheduling of marijuana” and instead “confirmed what decades of data have shown: raw marijuana has no scientifically established medical value and is highly susceptible to abuse.”

After the parties to the hearing have filed termination rights, the DEA administrative law judge overseeing the proceedings will make a recommendation regarding rescheduling, and the agency administrator will make a final decision.

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole only organizations and individuals opposed to marijuana reform have been invited to the hearing as a designated participant – telling supporters that they do not meet the definition of “interested person” to participate because they have not been “affected or prejudiced by any rule or proposed rule that may be issued.”

—
It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters by pledging at least $25/month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts, and audio calendars so you never miss a development.

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The former attorney general’s new opinion says “the stakes couldn’t be higher”, arguing that “marijuana today is more dangerous than ever” and that it is “addictive”, throwing out a list of alleged harm to mental and physical health.

“These unhealthy effects are a predictable result of a powerful and addictive drug being normalized, commercialized and marketed as a medicine,” Barr and Sabet say. “It would be one thing if marijuana had medical value. But there is no credible evidence that marijuana is an effective treatment for any medical condition, despite the millions of dollars spent trying to prove otherwise.”

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a 252 analysis in 2023 that concluded that marijuana had accepted medical value and should be rescheduled.

The new opposition piece also says that “rescheduling would unlock enormous revenue for the corporate marijuana industry by bringing it into a category that has not been covered by a longstanding reduction in federal drug tax deductions,” referring to a law known as 280E, which repeals Sections I and II.

“This, in turn, would allow the industry to spend even more on advertising and marketing to young people,” Barr and Sabet. he wroteArguing that “those who would lose this dragon in society are laying the foundations for another Big Tobacco”.

The Sabet organization, SAM, is one of several parties Challenging the Marijuana Redistricting Process which have been upheld by a federal Court of Appeals. those separate parts State attorneys general have filed lawsuits against cannabis reform, Opponents of marijuana legalization and a a cannabis-based biopharmaceutical corporation.

SAM’s lawsuit was signed by attorneys at Torridon Law PLLC, where Barr is a partner.

The team announced in January that it was Hiring Barr’s firm to fight cannabis rescheduling After Trump signed an executive order directing officials to quickly complete the process.

During the first Trump administration, Barr was accused by a Justice Department official Directing improper anti-company investigations into multiple cannabis company mergers– Accounting for almost a third of the division’s cases in 2019.

Several Democratic members of Congress introduced a resolution calling for an investigation into Barr’s possible impeachment, saying “abused the power of his office” to improperly investigate marijuana businesses while engaging in other allegedly illegal conduct.

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How much red light does cannabis really need?

Published

3 weeks ago

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July 26, 2026

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When growers pull out two LED fixtures side by side, the first number they usually discuss is percent red. This is an easy specification to fix. They are efficient at producing red photons and incredibly efficient at photosynthesis, and cannabis eats away at the flower. So more red must be better, right?

Not so simple. Red is an input to a spectrum, and the spectrum is an input to a room. There is no single spectrum that wins everywhere. An indoor room pushes hard, a greenhouse that soaks up sunlight, a temperamental cultivar, and aggressive yields call for something different. Knowing what each light strip actually does allows you to choose a tool that fits your grow instead of one that just has a big number on the sales page.

© JumpLights

Blue: structure
Blue (approximately 400-500 nm) gives shape to the plant. It maintains dense growth, strong stems, tight internodes and allows it to develop as desired. It also encourages stomatal opening, so the plant manages water and gas exchange better. Get blue and you’ve built a plant that can carry heavy flowers with no problem.

Green: access
Green was eliminated as the wavelength is “reflected” by plants. It turns out that it does a real job. Blue and red are absorbed above; the green goes deep into the fat and reaches the leaves that are never touched by the above photons. In a compact room, it’s the difference between plants photosynthesising from the top down and those that work only from the top. Green won’t replace your red or blue, but it does carry usable light where they can’t reach.

Red: engine
Red is the horse of the flower. It absorbs as efficiently as anything in the spectrum, and is responsible for most of the biomass you’re after. Redder generally means faster flower development, more weight and better efficiency per watt.

But red has a ceiling, and it’s tied to what you run. Push PPFD upwards with a heavy red spectrum and some cultivars begin to whiten at the top: the flower should be dense with pale, washed tips. Genetics, intensity, barrel temperature and your general environment all feed into it. If you’re using aggressive light levels, a lower red spectrum will buy you room before that becomes a problem, leaving you almost no photosynthetic punch to get it.

Far Red: More than Emerson
Far-red (700-750 nm) appears in more devices every year. It contributes little to photosynthesis on its own, but it moves plant morphology and works with red through the Emerson Enhancement Effect. Used properly, it helps to deepen the light, encourage uniformity of the canopy and encourage the response of the bloom. The key word is small. A touch of far red rounds out a spectrum; he’s not there to make a show.

Matching the red percentage with the room
Cannabis addresses the entire spectrum, not a line on a spec sheet. Reds cause flowers, but blues, greens and crimsons give the plant something it needs. Where you land in red refers to how you grow.

A lower red spectrum (30-40%) captures more blue and green, gives you better morphology, reduces the risk of photobleaching, and holds up when you’re running extreme PPFD. Moderate spectrum (40-55%) is the sweet spot in commercial greenhouses: strong photosynthetic efficiency, strong flowering, balanced growth. A high-red spectrum (70%+) makes the most sense in a greenhouse, where the sun is already giving you lots of blue and green and your supplemental light can cast effective red to fill the gap.

Where does the ETS MAX series fit in?
This is the thinking behind the JumpLights ETS MAX series. Instead of forcing a spectrum into each room, it rarely comes up because a greenhouse and a high PPFD indoor flower room are not the same problem.

  • ETS MAX 4C41% red: for indoor rooms operating at very high intensity, where photobleaching is a real risk. The wider, red bottom balance allows you to push the tops without overcooking them
  • ETS MAX 4A48% red: balanced internal spectrum that maintains high output while controlling bleaching.
  • ETS MAX 5B57% Red: A high-performance indoor option. Moderate red, marked with efficiency and flower at the same time, up to 3,450 μmol/s, with efficiency that holds the spectrum.
  • ETS MAX 7A76% red: built for the greenhouse. The sun already supplies blue and green, so this leans heavily on the complementary red, up to 3,900 μmol/s in the infrastructure most greenhouses already have in place.

Bottom line
Choosing an activity is not a competition for the highest red number. The winning spectrum is the one that matches your environment, your intensity, your genetics, and what you’re trying to produce. Combine spectrum, intensity, environmental control, light distribution and genetics, and you’ve got a lighting strategy. Keep a spec isolated and all you’ve got is a bright room.

The ETS MAX line was created around this idea: choose the spectrum of the room you actually have, indoor or greenhouse, and let the device work with your grow rather than against it.

For more information:
JumpLights
www.jumplights.com

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