WeedPress: The Paper Trail

Ruthie’s Dispensary in Wagner, the first South Dakota dispensary to tell WeedPress it has received a federal DEA registration, asked WeedPress a question facing DEA-registered and timely-applicant dispensaries across the state before DEA’s Nov. 29 supply-chain date: which suppliers qualify? Here is what the federal rule, DEA’s guidance and South Dakota law say, what attorneys are telling operators, and what no one can yet answer from public records.

By Jason Karimi, Publisher

Part of WeedPress’s South Dakota DEA Supply Chain series. Start here →

On Monday morning, Nov. 2, Ruth Bouza, the owner of Ruthie’s Dispensary in Wagner, emailed WeedPress with news and a question. She wrote that she had just received her Drug Enforcement Administration medical marijuana dispensary certificate. Then she asked: “whom are the medical Cannabis suppliers that I can legally buy from?”¹

Ruthie’s is the first South Dakota dispensary to report a DEA registration to WeedPress and share its certificate. WeedPress reviewed a photo of the certificate she sent. It shows a DEA registration for Ruthie’s, LLC in Wagner, with the business activity “Medical Marijuana Dispensary,” Schedule III (non-narcotic) authority and an issue date of Oct. 30, 2026.² That is the same day the Justice Department announced that DEA had begun registering more than 900 medical marijuana dispensaries in seven states, including South Dakota.³ WeedPress has not independently confirmed the registration with DEA. Ruthie’s, LLC appears on the South Dakota Department of Health’s list of licensed dispensaries, in Wagner.⁴

In a follow-up email, Bouza gave WeedPress a quote to share with other operators: “DEA inspectors are very nice people, they are here to help us, do not worry about their visit, just have your documents in order and those are mostly copies of your paperwork you submit to the state for annual licensing.”⁵

Her question is simple. Answering it is not, because the one public federal list a dispensary is told to check does not name businesses.

The short answer

In WeedPress’s analysis of the federal rule, DEA’s guidance and South Dakota law, a newly registered South Dakota dispensary may buy medical cannabis only from a supplier that meets both of these tests, subject to an open question about direct purchases from growers and manufacturers discussed below:

• State: It is a South Dakota Department of Health-licensed cultivation facility or cannabis product manufacturing facility.⁶,⁷
• Federal: It is either registered with DEA to supply medical marijuana (as a manufacturer or distributor), or a DEA “timely applicant”: a business that filed a complete application, with the fee paid, between April 28 and June 26, 2026, and whose application is still pending.⁸,⁹

In WeedPress’s analysis, that would rule out out-of-state suppliers and any supplier that is neither a DEA registrant nor a timely applicant. DEA’s guidance says timely applicants are expected to “establish compliant supply chains no later than November 29, 2026.” The guidance also says it does “not have the force and effect of law.”⁹

One more fact narrows the field. When the Justice Department announced the first registrations Oct. 30, they were for dispensaries only. It said applications from manufacturers and distributors “require additional review, including facility inspections, production controls, and quota determinations.”³ WeedPress has not found any public DEA or Justice Department announcement since then of a manufacturer or distributor registration under the new rule. On Oct. 31, WeedPress asked DEA about the status of South Dakota manufacturer and distributor applications, with answers requested by Nov. 4.¹⁰ From the public records WeedPress reviewed, a supplier’s federal status, as a timely applicant or a registrant, can be confirmed only through documents from the supplier or information from DEA.

What the federal rule says

The April 2026 rule moved marijuana “subject to a state medical marijuana license” into Schedule III¹¹ and created a registration path for state-licensed businesses in 21 C.F.R. § 1301.13(k).⁸ It sets out three registration types:

• “A registered marijuana manufacturer may cultivate, produce, process, package, label, and transfer marijuana and products containing marijuana to registered distributors or other registered manufacturers, subject to the limitations of its state license.”⁸
• “A registered distributor may receive marijuana and products containing marijuana from registered manufacturers and transfer marijuana and products containing marijuana to registered dispensers or other registered distributors, subject to the limitations of its state license.”⁸
• “A registered dispenser may dispense marijuana and products containing marijuana to individuals authorized by state law to possess marijuana and products containing marijuana for medical purposes, subject to the limitations of its state license.”⁸

A transition clause lets businesses that applied on time keep operating while DEA works through the backlog: “any applicant that submits an application within 60 days of the publication of this rule in the Federal Register may engage in the manufacture, distribution, and/or dispensing of marijuana or products containing marijuana for medical purposes in conformity with a state-issued license during the pendency of the application.”⁸

What DEA’s guidance says

DEA’s Oct. 30 guidance for timely applicants spells out who can trade with whom. Timely applicants “can engage in schedule III medical marijuana activities with other Timely Applicants” and with “DEA registrants that hold a registration to handle schedule III medical marijuana.” It gives an example that fits Ruthie’s situation: “a DEA-registered dispensary can continue receiving schedule III medical marijuana from a Timely Distributor Applicant.”⁹

Then it draws the line. Timely applicants and DEA registrants “may not lawfully engage in any schedule III medical marijuana activities with entities that did not complete an application for DEA registration between April 28, 2026, to June 26, 2026, or that have not applied for a DEA schedule III medical marijuana registration, until those entities become DEA registrants.” Doing so, the guidance says, “could be potential grounds for denial of a Timely Applicant’s application or revocation of a certificate of registration, respectively.”⁹

What South Dakota law says

South Dakota’s medical cannabis law defines cultivation facilities and cannabis product manufacturing facilities, in part, by whom they sell to. A cultivation facility is an entity “registered with the department” that “supplies, or sells cannabis and related supplies to a medical cannabis establishment.” A cannabis product manufacturing facility “sells cannabis products to a medical cannabis dispensary.”⁶

The Department of Health’s rules define an “authorized transfer” as “the distribution of cannabis and cannabis products between medical cannabis establishments that is allowable within inventory tracking system procedures.”⁷ Product moving from a grower or manufacturer to a dispensary must first pass all mandatory tests at a testing facility and travel with a certificate of analysis.¹² Every authorized transfer needs a transport manifest listing the license numbers of the sending and receiving establishments.¹³

WeedPress did not find a sentence in the statute or rules that says “no out-of-state purchases” in those words. In WeedPress’s analysis, the definitions do the work: a dispensary’s suppliers must be establishments registered with the department, and transfers run between those establishments.

Amendments to several of the department’s medical cannabis rules take effect Nov. 5, including the definitions section (44:90:01:01) and the transport manifest rules (44:90:04:19 and 44:90:04:20).¹⁴ The testing rule cited above, 44:90:09:03, is not among the sections listed as amended. WeedPress has not yet reviewed the adopted text of the amendments, so the rule text quoted here is the codified version in effect before Nov. 5. WeedPress will check the amended text for any change to these provisions.

Why DEA’s list can’t answer her question

DEA tells dispensaries to check their suppliers. Its guidance says minimum due diligence includes getting a timely applicant’s DEA submission confirmation and “verifying the Timely Applicant’s document control number (DCN) via the DEA Diversion Control Website,” getting a registrant’s certificate, and “[o]btaining a copy of the entity’s relevant state license and verifying its status is active.”⁹

DEA’s Medical Marijuana Information page links to the timely-applicant list, which is where a DCN can be checked. The list WeedPress downloaded has three fields: state, business activity and control number.¹⁵ It has no business names, no cities and no license numbers. A dispensary can confirm that a number a supplier gives it appears on the timely-applicant list. It cannot use the list to find suppliers.

Here is what WeedPress counted for South Dakota in the file dated Nov. 2:¹⁶

South Dakota	DEA timely-applicant list (file dated Nov. 2, 2026)	Department of Health list (updated Aug. 27, 2026)
DEA manufacturer entries / state cultivation and manufacturing licenses	10 manufacturer entries	30 cultivation and 14 manufacturing licenses
DEA distributor entries	2 entries	no state license category
Dispensary entries / state dispensary listings	1 entry	62 dispensary listings

The two lists measure different things, and the comparison has limits. One company can hold several state licenses, the state list is more than two months older than DEA’s, and DEA’s list does not say which business filed which entry.⁴,¹⁶ The counts do not show that any South Dakota business failed to apply, withdrew, was denied or was registered.

The dispensary row in DEA’s timely-applicant files changed between Friday and Monday. The file dated Oct. 30 had 43 South Dakota dispensary entries; the file dated Nov. 2 has one.¹⁷,¹⁶ DEA says the list “may change as Timely Applicants are granted DEA registrations, withdraw their applications for DEA registration, or are no longer considered Timely Applicants for any other reason.”¹⁵ The files don’t say why any entry is gone, so removal from the timely-applicant list is not, by itself, proof of registration, withdrawal, denial or wrongdoing. WeedPress examined the gap between DEA’s list and the state’s dispensary count in an Oct. 31 report.¹⁸

The list became unavailable to WeedPress on Monday morning. WeedPress downloaded the file dated Nov. 2 at 9 a.m. CST Monday. When WeedPress checked again at 10:44 a.m., 10:46 a.m. and 10:50 a.m. CST, the same address returned a DEA “Page Not Found” error, while DEA’s Medical Marijuana Information page still linked to it.¹⁹,¹⁵ DEA’s guidance document also appeared to have changed address when WeedPress checked Monday morning: its Oct. 30 address returned the same error, and DEA’s page linked to a new one.¹⁹,⁹ WeedPress compared the text of the document at the new address with the Oct. 30 version and found no changes.²⁰ At WeedPress’s most recent check, at 12:02 p.m. CST Monday, the file still returned the error. WeedPress will update this story when it is back.¹⁹

The question the rule doesn’t settle

South Dakota lets growers and manufacturers sell straight to dispensaries; it has no separate distributor license.⁶,⁴ DEA’s rule describes a manufacturer transferring to “registered distributors or other registered manufacturers,” and a distributor transferring to “registered dispensers.”⁸ DEA’s example in its guidance is a dispensary receiving from a distributor applicant.⁹

Neither the rule nor the guidance says outright whether a DEA-registered dispensary may receive product directly from a timely manufacturer applicant during the transition, in a state-law structure like South Dakota’s. The guidance does say a timely applicant may dispense, manufacture or distribute “pursuant to its state medical marijuana license during the pendency of the application,” and the rule says “[a] single entity may be granted multiple types of registrations.”⁹,⁸

The guidance leaves a second point unresolved that matters to a dispensary in Ruthie’s position. It says “Timely Dispenser Applicants and Timely Distributor Applicants may continue to possess, dispense, and distribute existing inventories” acquired before the guidance, “including inventory previously obtained from entities that do not qualify as Timely Applicants or DEA registrants.”⁹ It does not say whether that sentence still covers a dispensary that has since been registered.

The industry is working the same question

Ruthie’s is not the only South Dakota business trying to pin down the answer. People in the state’s medical cannabis industry are researching it now, and attorneys and operators are working with WeedPress to get answers for South Dakota’s industry.

On Nov. 2, WeedPress emailed questions to every South Dakota-licensed cultivation and manufacturing establishment it could reach: 11 emails, covering about 13 businesses.²¹ WeedPress asked each whether it has received a DEA registration or has a pending application, and whether it can sell to DEA-registered South Dakota dispensaries. It asked for replies by 5 p.m. CT Thursday, Nov. 5, and told the businesses it would draw no conclusion from a decision not to reply. WeedPress will report the answers it receives.

At least one South Dakota producer told WeedPress it is actively working the issue with its attorneys.²² WeedPress has also heard secondhand that a small number of South Dakota producers may already hold DEA registrations. WeedPress has not confirmed that, is seeking confirmation and is not naming any business. The Justice Department’s Oct. 30 announcement covered dispensaries only.³

What attorneys are telling operators

A client alert from attorneys advising cannabis operators, reviewed by WeedPress, walks through DEA’s Oct. 30 timely-applicant information sheet.²³ The alert notes that the sheet acknowledges it lacks the force of law, but says it reflects how DEA likely will apply the law to timely applicants. The alert says a pending applicant that doesn’t follow it risks an order to show cause and denial of its application, or revocation of an existing registration.²³ DEA’s sheet itself says dealing with anyone other than a timely applicant or DEA registrant “could be potential grounds for denial of a Timely Applicant’s application or revocation of a certificate of registration, respectively.”⁹

The vetting steps the alert recommends track the minimum due-diligence steps in DEA’s sheet:²³,⁹

• Get the partner’s DEA submission confirmation. For a dispensary, DEA’s sheet names the “Marijuana Dispensary Information Submission” confirmation; for a manufacturer or distributor, it is the submission confirmation DEA provided when it applied.⁹
• Verify its document control number (DCN) on DEA’s Diversion Control website, https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugreg/medicalmarijuana.html, to confirm it is a timely applicant.⁹,¹⁵
• Get a copy of the DEA certificate of registration from any partner that is a DEA registrant.⁹ The alert notes that once registrations are issued in a state, registered dispensaries may no longer appear on the timely-applicant list, but they can provide copies of their certificates.²³ Removal from the list is not, by itself, proof of registration.
• Get a copy of the partner’s state license and confirm it is active.⁹
• Keep records of all of it. DEA’s sheet calls for “[m]aintaining records of all due diligence conducted.”⁹ The alert recommends keeping a business’s own state licenses and pending registrations, and its partners’ documents, in one place so they can be pulled up quickly for DEA review.²³

Existing inventory and the Nov. 29 date. DEA’s sheet, dated Oct. 30, says “Timely Dispenser Applicants and Timely Distributor Applicants may continue to possess, dispense, and distribute existing inventories of schedule III medical marijuana acquired prior to the issuance of this information, including inventory previously obtained from entities that do not qualify as Timely Applicants or DEA registrants.”⁹ The alert reads that as covering inventory acquired before Oct. 30, and says product acquired on or after Oct. 30 from a business that is neither a timely applicant nor a DEA registrant is not covered by the exception. It recommends that operators review current inventory for product bought before Oct. 30, confirm the current DEA status of every vendor, and revisit contracts and supply chains.²³ Separately, DEA’s sheet says timely applicants “are expected to complete these activities and establish compliant supply chains no later than November 29, 2026.”⁹

What DEA’s guidance tells a dispensary to check

These steps come from DEA’s guidance and the state rules cited above, and overlap with the attorneys’ checklist. This is not legal advice; confirm with DEA and the Department of Health before buying.

• Get proof of each supplier’s federal status. DEA’s guidance lists, for a timely applicant, a copy of the submission confirmation DEA issued when it applied, showing its document control number, and for a DEA registrant, a copy of its certificate of registration.⁹
• Check the number on DEA’s timely-applicant list. The guidance calls for verifying a timely applicant’s DCN on DEA’s Diversion Control website.⁹ For a timely applicant, a South Dakota supplier’s number would appear as a “Medical Marijuana Manufacturer” or “Medical Marijuana Distributor” entry; the list will not show the business’s name.¹⁵ If the file is unavailable, how to verify the number is a question for DEA.
• Check the supplier’s state license. The guidance calls for “[o]btaining a copy of the entity’s relevant state license and verifying its status is active.”⁹ The Department of Health’s establishments list is the public state source.⁴ WeedPress’s Establishment Status page tracks that list and notes closures WeedPress has confirmed.²⁴
• Keep records of every check. The guidance calls for “[m]aintaining records of all due diligence conducted.” It says registrants must keep federal Schedule III records, and that when a registrant buys from a timely applicant, the supplier’s DCN can appear “where a DEA registration number would otherwise be required.”⁹
• State transfer rules still apply. They require tested product with a certificate of analysis, a transport manifest and inventory-tracking entries.¹²,¹³,⁷
• DEA Form 222 is for Schedules I and II. Federal rules require that order form, or its electronic equivalent, for distributions of Schedule I or II substances.²⁵ Marijuana subject to a state medical marijuana license is in Schedule III.¹¹
• Watch the Nov. 29, 2026, date. DEA’s guidance says timely applicants are expected to “establish compliant supply chains no later than November 29, 2026.”⁹
• The open questions below are questions for DEA. DEA’s Diversion Control website lists DEA.Registration.Help@dea.gov and 1-800-882-9539 for registration questions.¹⁵

Where are licensed cultivation and manufacturing facilities relative to Wagner? None of the cities the Department of Health lists for licensed cultivation or manufacturing facilities is in Charles Mix County, by WeedPress’s review of the department’s list. The full list, with each establishment’s city, is on the department’s website.⁴ Whether any particular supplier is a DEA timely applicant can’t be determined from DEA’s public list, so WeedPress is not listing individual suppliers here.

Questions WeedPress has put to DEA and the Department of Health

On Oct. 31, WeedPress sent written questions to DEA and to the South Dakota Department of Health, with a deadline of 5 p.m. CT Wednesday, Nov. 4.¹⁰ WeedPress asked DEA, among other things, whether it will publish information identifying registered businesses, whether registered businesses are removed from the timely-applicant list, and the status of South Dakota manufacturer and distributor applications. WeedPress asked the department whether it plans guidance to licensees about DEA’s Nov. 29 date. WeedPress will update this story with any answers.

Questions that remain unanswered

These questions arise from Ruthie’s situation and were not part of WeedPress’s Oct. 31 inquiries:

• May a DEA-registered dispensary receive product directly from a timely manufacturer applicant, as South Dakota law allows, or only through a distributor?
• Does the guidance’s existing-inventory sentence still cover a dispensary once it has been registered?
• How should a dispensary verify a supplier’s control number when DEA’s timely-applicant file is unavailable?
• Will the Department of Health tell dispensaries which licensed suppliers have DEA timely-applicant status?

Any South Dakota business named or described in this report, or any licensed establishment that wants to share its DEA registration or application status or respond, can reach WeedPress at weedpressnewstips@gmail.com. WeedPress will add responses to this story.

More in this series: What Should My South Dakota Dispensary Do Before Nov. 29? A DEA Supplier Checklist · DEA’s Timely-Applicant List by the Numbers: 6,083 Entries Nationwide, 13 in South Dakota · South Dakota DEA Supply Chain Glossary