In February 2025, the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office and Division of Criminal Investigation issued a public warning about marijuana discovered in eastern South Dakota that appeared laced with opioids and possibly fentanyl.
A man experienced overdose-like symptoms after smoking it (noting an unusual chemical taste and blue-white tint), went to the ER, tested positive for opioids, and recovered. Further testing was planned to confirm fentanyl specifically, but no follow-up confirmation of fentanyl in the marijuana itself has been publicly reported.
This remains the only documented case in South Dakota based on official statements and news coverage. Nationally, claims of fentanyl-laced marijuana are common but often unverified or debunked upon lab testing (e.g., due to cross-contamination, misidentification, or lack of evidence), with experts noting it makes little economic or practical sense for dealers. No prior or subsequent confirmed cases in South Dakota appear in official records or reports.
Here is the direct link to the full press release on the official state website:
https://atg.sd.gov/OurOffice/Media/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?id=2757
Key excerpts from the release:
• South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) warned the public about marijuana discovered in eastern South Dakota that appeared laced with opioids and possibly fentanyl.
• A man reported overdose-like symptoms after smoking it on February 6, 2025. The marijuana had an unusual blue-white tint and chemical taste (unlike his prior experiences).
• He tested positive for opioids at the emergency room, recovered, and further testing was planned to confirm fentanyl.
• Attorney General Jackley stated: “Drugs that are dangerous and addictive are controlled and made illegal for public health and safety reasons… This is an especially dangerous time, and the public is encouraged not to engage in the use of marijuana and controlled substances…”
This incident remains the only publicly documented case of its kind in South Dakota as of late 2025, with no confirmed lab results for fentanyl in the marijuana itself reported in follow-ups. The warning was widely covered by local news outlets (e.g., Dakota News Now, KOTA TV, DRGNews) on the same day.
My take: unethical marijuana dealers on the black market don’t seem to me to be able to persist in such poisoning and still maintain trust amongst their clientele. I haven’t purchased black market marijuana for over 6.5 years at this point and did it through a long known friend when I did back in Iowa. I have no desire to purchase cannabis ever again until I finish getting it federally approved for patients. My main mentor hasn’t used cannabis since the early 90s for the same reason (requiring state AND federal approval before partaking in sacrament). This way criminality doesn’t compromise advocacy integrity or credibility.
Marijuana dealers, from my experience, are very cautious in safety of product in midwestern towns, as any hurt done to their consumers risks them being turned in to law enforcement as well as the entire town being told of bad behavior. So, while I am not surprised to see only one case in South Dakota ever reported, the fact this even happens is disgusting on a human level, and also a blatant exposure of the failures of not regulating cannabis to take it off the black market entirely.
Roofied alcohol drinks at bars is still a major concern for many people, so even full regulations for cannabis won’t completely mitigate poisoning attempts…but the fact anyone would ever do this to somebody is concerning.
I’ve seen two overdoses in my apartment building in five years lead to death. One of those who died I never interacted with as he was a very bad person selling all sorts of drugs to very bad people and I didn’t want targeted so I just avoided him and kept my mouth shut. As paramedics took his body out and walked by me while I was smoking a cigarette, one of his associates followed the paramedics recording on his phone with a very dark vibe while paramedics asked him to stay away so they could try and save the guy’s life.
The second person who died, however, sat on my couch, smoked cannabis with me, and was told by me and other neighbors to stop using drugs before she hurt herself. She was lonely, and desperate for friends, and fell into the wrong crowd when some natives claiming gang affiliation moved in and love bombed her then peer pressured her into taking hard drugs. Now she’s dead. She was 50 years old.
The drug war has hurt everyone. Everyone knows a family member who’s suffered from addiction or worse.
I will never quit advocating and sharing researched perspectives on the drug problem in America. It’s been too personal to be able to just walk away from, and I’ve done a lot of work to share insights and perspectives with policy makers when the time to do so comes around intermittently.
My cousin ruined his life with hard drugs due to trauma from a violent step father beating his mom while we grew up. He had to come stay with me for a year to escape the abuse. Policy is changing to help rehabilitate people like him but has gone too far in a lot of cases and enabled criminal behavior to get my neighbors ultimately unalived. I genuinely do not think these issues of drugs will be solved politically or policy wise and will require a spiritual revolution. Those who have hope that TPUSA will lead a Christian revival that could meet that criteria are mistaken. Like the spiritual revolution of the 1960s, any Christian revival happening now will be commercialized and watered down within 15 years. So absent a real crisis forcing people to suffer enough, like a world war, or economic collapse, I don’t see any hope in people returning to the foundation of western civilization – church and God – and think the drug problem will only continue to get worse. 5
50 years of arresting our way out of these problems seem to have failed our neighbors and families. If anyone has any actual solution to share please do. For now, we need Portugal style drug decriminalizing, with private property rights being the key tool, to effectively save people’s lives.
Back, to, work…
https://mises.org/mises-wire/oregon-problem-its-not-drugs-its-socialistic-political-culture
WeedPress: The Paper Trail 
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