MJBiz - July/August 2024 - 27

South Dakota
Medical cannabis operators in the state soon will pay almost double for their registration certificates.
The cost of an annual registration rose from $5,310 to $9,000 under a new law.
According to Sioux Falls-based TV station KELO, the fee increase will impact:
* 78 dispensaries.
* 40 cultivators.
* 21 manufacturers.
* Three testing facilities, including the state public health laboratory.
Senate Bill 43 goes into effect July 1 and requires the South Dakota health department,
which regulates the state's MMJ program, to raise the registration fee to $9,000 no later than
Sept. 30.
The law that legalized the MMJ program in November 2020 set the maximum registration
fee at $5,000, although it called for the fee to be adjusted annually for inflation.
Utah
The state's regulated medical marijuana market now serves more than 83,000 patients,
according to the latest monthly report from the state Department of Health & Human Services'
Center for Medical Cannabis. The MMJ patient count for March was up 19% on a yearover-year
basis, according to Salt Lake City radio station KSL.
The report for March 2024 counted 83,421 registered patients, alongside 950 physicians, registered
nurses and physician assistants registered to recommend medical marijuana.
Meanwhile, monthly gross sales of medical cannabis products were roughly $16.1 million. Net
monthly sales after discounts were about $13.5 million, with 122,361 orders in March.
Persistent pain continues to be the most common qualifying condition for MMJ registrations
in Utah, which launched legal medical marijuana sales in March 2020.
Virginia
Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have finally legalized adult-use marijuana sales
in the state.
" States following this path have seen adverse effects on children's and adolescents' health
and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental
health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far
exceed tax revenue, " Youngkin said in a statement announcing his veto, adding that other
states that have legalized recreational cannabis sales are following a " failed path. "
Virginia legalized adult-use cannabis in 2021 with a bill signed into law by then-Gov. Ralph
Northam. However, that law required state legislators to reenact portions setting up regulated
sales.
In the years since, a partisan logjam led by Youngkin has kept adult-use legalization bottled
up, encouraging the emergence of an illicit market that some estimate is worth $3 billion.
Medical marijuana sales are legal in the state, albeit under relatively tight restrictions that
limit business opportunities to one operator per region.
Note: Entries sourced from MJBizDaily and other international, national and local news outlets. These
developments occurred before this magazine's publication deadline, so some situations might have changed.
mjbizdaily.com | July-August 2024 27

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