South Dakota’s Lack Of Testing Labs For Marijuana: Cause For Concern?

Number of testing labs in South Dakota

According to the state’s official cannabis-licensing site, as of early 2025 there are two independent medical cannabis testing laboratories licensed by the South Dakota Department of Health (SD-DOH).  Of those two labs: Cannabis Chem Lab Inc. — located in Flandreau, South Dakota — is described as the “only licensed cannabis testing laboratory … for statewide testing.”  The second lab is the South Dakota Public Health Laboratory (SDPHL, in Pierre), but it is reportedly used only for confirmatory and law-enforcement testing, not routine commercial product testing. 

Hence, for commercial medical-cannabis product testing, there is effectively one main active testing lab in the state (Cannabis Chem Lab Inc.).

 What this means (and how testing works in SD)

All cannabis products intended for retail sale in South Dakota must be tested by a licensed/ISO-accredited lab before sale.  

Labs must hold ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation (or become accredited within 18 months of licensure) ito ensure they can perform required analyses (potency, contaminants, heavy metals, microbials, etc.).  Given the very small number of labs, the only commercially available lab — Cannabis Chem Lab Inc. — processes samples from across the state. 

 Implications / Challenges

Because there is only one main commercial testing lab, the state’s entire medical-cannabis supply chain depends on a single facility. That creates potential bottlenecks or vulnerabilities if that lab faces capacity constraints, regulatory issues, or other disruptions. For confirmatory testing or law-enforcement needs, the Public Health Lab may be used — but that doesn’t function as a general commercial testing lab.  The limited number of labs raises concerns about competition, scalability, and turnaround times, especially as medical-cannabis use expands.