South Dakota Hearing on HB 1065: Medical Cannabis “Affirmative Defense” Change — 7:45 a.m. Monday (Capitol Room 412)
By Jason Karimi | WeedPress
March 2 2026
Public comment is welcome. The Senate Health & Human Services Committee meets Monday, March 2, 2026, at 7:45 a.m. in Capitol Room 412, and HB 1065 (revising the medical-purpose affirmative defense in cannabis prosecutions) is on the agenda.
My view: I support HB 1065 because it increases incentives to follow the rules—get registered, get a card, and operate inside the program. That strengthens the legitimacy of South Dakota’s medical market and reduces the gray-zone behavior that invites enforcement and political backlash.
The gun-rights confusion is driving risky behavior
A common piece of bad advice floating around is: “If you register as a medical cannabis patient, you lose your gun rights.” That belief pushes some people into the worst possible combo: unregistered cannabis use + firearms.
Under federal law, marijuana remains illegal, and federal firearms forms and guidance treat marijuana use as incompatible with lawful firearm acquisition/possession for “unlawful users.” Historically, “recent use” has been used as a basis to infer “current unlawful use,” and ATF is actively revising the regulatory definition right now (effective January 22, 2026).
Bottom line: people should not assume they can safely mix cannabis and guns just because the state has a medical program.
Bigger picture: state “nitpicking” won’t fix the real patient-cost problem
Even if you love or hate HB 1065, the real structural problem is that federal illegality still drives patient harm and higher operating costs, and those costs get passed down to patients. South Dakota can debate program details forever, but without a serious federal-protection strategy, we’ll keep relitigating the same vulnerabilities every session.
If you care about patient rights and affordability, focus less on symbolic state tweaks and more on durable federal legal pathways that reduce risk and cost for patients and operators.
Have fun wasting your time pretend lobbying tomorrow at the Capitol. If you had any political education you’d know you’re wasting your time chasing shiny things reactively and exposing yourself as having no plan or future leverage 😉
Nobody ever invites me to these things, so I don’t need to waste time where I’m not valued. I may watch as always to lurk and watch what people “think” they’re doing (which appears to be not thinking, just doing). I’ve been advocating seriously and effectively in court and legislatively for marijuana longer than anyone else in South Dakota (since 2009, full time, year round, never stopping, seven days a week) so when I say nobody is thinking, I’m not just blogging about it, I’ve been arguing this in courts and statehouses throughout the country and winning based on legal arguments…
…more than emotional feminist bitching and clique cult of personality man hating America hating progressive socialistic shit talkers witchcraft promoting amateurs could ever begin to strategize for tactically 😘.
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