I am currently in line on the phone for South Dakota’s Department of Health cannabis town hall today. The Department of Health townhall is being recorded, including the public’s questions during a public comment period. My question is as follows given the one minute time limit.
I currently represent 15,000 medical marijuana patients in Iowa through the advocacy group Iowa Patients for Medical Marijuana as a co-founder and Executive Director of the organization. South Dakota has recently stated that the State of South Dakota wishes to learn from Iowa previously this year, and I would like to share a solution to federal laws that I believe South Dakota is ethically and morally obligated to investigate, and ultimately pursue. The Iowa Department of Public Health wrote the FEDERAL Department of Education a letter on April 23, 2021. ons.[6] Copies of this letter has been sent to city councils around South Dakota to assist them in better understanding how to go about writing city ordinances that address implementation of medical marijuana in South Dakota.
The solution to federal drug law is also with Hawaii. In 2021, Hawaii passed both a House concurrent resolution, H.C.R. No. 132,[7] and a House resolution, HR No. 112,[8]. House resolution 112 is more detailed and gets into Title 21 C.F.R. § 1308.43, whereas H.C.R. 132 leaves out 21 C.F.R § 1308.43 and instead discusses Title 21 C.F.R section 1307.03.
With my help the Minnesota House passed a similar legislative measure this year, and the Senate is possibly taking up discussion over applying for federal exemption to their state marijuana law during a special legislative session this summer.
My question is as follows.
Given the action in Iowa and Hawaii, is South Dakota willing to forego this possible solution to applying for exemption to marijuana laws, leaving marijuana industry participants, as well as marijuana patients, in a position to entrap themselves into violating federal laws, when there is a remedy to this situation currently found in federal regulations that South Dakota can utilize to protect the citizens from unnecessarily becoming criminals and foregoing rights on school grounds, nursing homes, and business tax writeoffs? Is South Dakota intentionally trying to violate federal law, or can we amend the current proposed draft to address this situation and lead the nation on restoring law and order to state medical marijuana laws? Three ways to implement this solution are to amend the current proposed rules discusses in today’s townhall, legislative proposals similar to Hawaii and Iowa, or to go to court with the federal government and pursue Justice Clarence Thomas’s comments concerning the untenable nature of current federal marijuana law outlooks.
If anyone has further questions about this issue I would gladly work with them.
Thank you!
Jason Karimi
Medical Cannabis Patient
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
READ at Marijuana Moment: Hawaii Lawmakers Seek Marijuana Exemption From DEA
UPDATE: During my question time today during the 5:00 townhall, the Department of Health in South Dakota cut me off halfway through my comment, and did not respond to this question. Luckily I am signed up for the second townhall at 6:30 pm and will ask the question, and clarify that I am a resident of South Dakota, not Iowa, as the nice lady who responded mistakenly thought I was not a South Dakota resident. I was usefully advised that South Dakota legislators are visiting Iowa to learn about Iowa’s medical cannabis program as of today, Monday June 28 2021.
Update 2: I have revised my comment. I will now read this at the 6:30 pm townhall tonight instead:
“The voter initiative IM 26 was written by unprofessional marijuana advocates. There is a process the State of South Dakota can and should follow to apply for exemption to federal laws. Iowa and Hawaii has applied for federal exemption already. It was very wise of the Department not to repeat the allegation in the voter initiative which was written by ordinary people who are not legal experts. The Department has legal experts, and it was wise of them to not sell out marijuana patients to the feds. I, Jason Karimi, do not agree with the unprofessional IM 26 initiative that was written by unprofessional non-legal experts, who did the best they could, but were incorrect legally. I forgive these advocates who tried to sell me out to the federal law, as they are not legal experts. Thank God the Department of Health did not repeat such nonsense. I appreciate your wisdom and expertise in the law!”
This comment was the first comment, read into the record at 6:30 pm.
Minnesota Bill Requiring Minnesota’s Medical Marijuana Program Be Exempted From Federal Law ADVANCES
The fact that the IM 26 initiative was incorrect is not a big deal. The system worked, because the Department of Health did not repeat the mistake made in IM 26. I genuinely appreciate the hard work that South Dakota advocates spent 6 years on, hard work that has created a massive sea change for patients like myself living in South Dakota.
The South Dakota Department of Health is currently accepting public comments by email until July 9th. If you are a South Dakota medical marijuana patient and would like to email the Department of Health you may do so by sending an email to DOHcomments@state.sd.us.
GRL Law Blog: Iowa Should Seek Federal Exemption For State Marijuana Laws
Moving forward I intend to work with the Department of Health on friendly terms to reach my goal of getting the state of South Dakota to petition for an exemption to federal marijuana laws. This seems a worthy goal, a goal that will protect myself and patients around the state, and I will do my best to achieve this goal over the next months and years.
To follow my work here, follow this blog, WeedPress, on Facebook, for new articles updating these efforts to protect marijuana patients from federal law. Our contributing teams here at WeedPress have been successful at convincing the states of Hawaii and Iowa to begin this federal exemption process, and the Minnesota House as well. This goal will be challenging, but it is worth the tremendous effort it takes to get the job done. The states must lead on this issue rather than waiting for the federal government to do the right thing.
Bleeding Heartland: Update on efforts to obtain a federal cannabis exemption for Iowa
WeedPress: The Paper Trail 
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