Health department lists conditions for medical marijuana

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Department of Health has compiled a preliminary list of health conditions that will be covered by the state’s medical marijuana program.

The list includes AIDS, HIV, Lou Gehrig’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy and seizures, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder and cancer associated with severe or chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, or cachexia or severe wasting.

“Under the law passed by the voters, patients must be experiencing a ‘debilitating medical condition’ and be certified by a doctor that medical cannabis will help alleviate their condition,” South Dakota Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said in a release. “This preliminary list of conditions meets the definition as passed by the voters, and is a result of feedback the department has already received.”

Malsam-Rysdon said residents would be allowed to petition for new conditions in the future.

Over 70% of voters in the November election passed Initiated Measure 26 to legalize medicinal cannabis.