After plenty of delays and rewrites, the Lincoln County Commission finally adopted an ordinance outlining rules and regulations for the use of medical marijuana in the county in a 3-1 vote Thursday morning.
Since the commission first began considering the ordinance in early June, changes have included the removal of license caps, lower fees for permitting and changes in when the businesses could operate.
The final ordinance also includes what is essentially an open container law, requiring any marijuana in the passenger area of a vehicle to be in its original container with an unbroken seal.
Commissioner Jim Schmidt was the lone vote against the ordinance, citing concerns about vacant buildings in the county being re-purposed as indoor grow operations. He also said he’d heard concerns from fire officials about flammable chemicals that can be used in the processing of marijuana, and feared allowing their use in the county would be “putting a burden on our fire departments.”
More: Medical marijuana advocates say Sioux Falls’ proposed rules are ‘de facto ban’ on dispensaries
He said he’d like to see only dispensaries allowed in the county, but no other commissioner agreed, with commissioners Tiffani Landeen, Michael Poppens and James Jibben voting in approval and commissioner Joel Arends absent.
