To get a medical marijuana card in South Dakota, you need a certification from a licensed healthcare practitioner, a completed online application through the state’s portal, and a $75 fee. The entire process starts with your doctor and finishes through the South Dakota Department of Health’s digital system. Here’s exactly how each step works.
Qualifying Medical Conditions
South Dakota law defines a specific list of debilitating medical conditions that qualify you for a medical cannabis card. You’re eligible if you have one of the following:
- Cancer (when associated with severe pain, nausea, vomiting, or significant weight loss)
- HIV/AIDS
- Epilepsy and seizures
- Crohn’s disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Beyond those named conditions, the law also covers any chronic or debilitating disease that produces severe pain, severe nausea (not related to pregnancy), seizures, cachexia (wasting syndrome), or severe and persistent muscle spasms. This broader category means conditions like fibromyalgia or Parkinson’s disease could qualify if your symptoms match one of those criteria. Your practitioner makes that determination during the certification process.
Step 1: Get a Practitioner Certification
Before you can touch the state application, you need a written certification from a licensed South Dakota practitioner confirming you have a qualifying condition. This is not a prescription. It’s a formal document stating that, in your provider’s professional judgment, you would benefit from medical cannabis.
Schedule an appointment with your current doctor or find a practitioner who handles cannabis certifications. During the visit, your provider will review your medical history, confirm your diagnosis, and submit the certification electronically through the state system. Once they do, you’ll receive an automated email from the state’s application platform. Check your spam or junk folder if it doesn’t appear in your inbox right away.
Step 2: Complete the Online Application
After your practitioner submits the certification, the state system generates an account for you. Here’s the process:
- Log in at medcannabisapplication.sd.gov using the email and temporary password from your automated notification. You’ll be prompted to create a permanent password.
- Fill out your personal information in all required fields and upload your identification documents.
- Review practitioner info. Your doctor’s details will already be populated. Just confirm and move to the next step.
- Caregiver designation. If your practitioner’s certification requires a caregiver, you’ll enter their information here. Otherwise, skip it.
- Home cultivation. If you want to grow cannabis at home, indicate who will be cultivating and provide the required evidence. If not, select the option stating neither you nor a caregiver will cultivate.
- Certify and pay. Read the applicant certification, confirm it, and pay the application fee through PayPal.
Non-residents have one extra step: you must designate at least one (and up to two) dispensaries where you’ll purchase cannabis. This requirement doesn’t apply to South Dakota residents.
Fees and Reduced Rates
The standard application fee is $75. If your gross monthly household income falls below 130% of the federal poverty level, you can request a reduced fee by submitting documentation of your income during the application. The practitioner visit itself is a separate cost that varies by provider and is typically not covered by insurance, since cannabis remains federally unregulated. Expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $250 for that appointment, depending on the clinic.
How Long Approval Takes
The state doesn’t publish an average processing time for individual patient cards, but plan for at least a couple of weeks from submission to approval. Your application enters a queue and is reviewed by Department of Health staff. Once approved, you’ll receive a confirmation email and your physical card will be printed and mailed to you. You cannot legally purchase cannabis from a dispensary until you have your card in hand.
What You Can Legally Possess
South Dakota cardholders can possess up to 3 ounces of cannabis. That total is split between flower and cannabis products (edibles, concentrates, tinctures). If you possess some flower and some products, the combined equivalent weight cannot exceed the 3-ounce limit. The state uses an equivalent weight formula to convert products like concentrates into their flower equivalent for tracking purposes.
Designating a Caregiver
If you’re unable to visit a dispensary yourself or need help managing your cannabis use, you can designate a caregiver. Caregivers go through their own registration process, but it can’t begin until after you complete your patient application. Once you submit your application and name your caregiver, the system creates an account for them automatically.
Caregivers must upload a valid ID (South Dakota driver’s license, passport, tribal ID, or SD student ID) and a passport-style photo with a plain white background. They also need to complete a background check through the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, which requires submitting a fingerprint card and paying a separate fee. Anyone convicted of a felony violent crime in any jurisdiction is disqualified from serving as a caregiver.
Renewing Your Card
Your medical cannabis card is not permanent. The state sends a renewal reminder email 45 days before your card expires. Don’t wait on this. You’ll need a new appointment with your practitioner to renew the certification before you can submit the renewal application, and the approval process can take a couple of weeks.
Once your practitioner renews the certification, log back into the application portal with your existing credentials and complete the renewal form. When approved, you’ll get a new card in the mail. Shred and dispose of the old one.
Non-Resident Access
South Dakota does offer a pathway for non-residents. If you hold a valid medical cannabis card from another state, you can apply for a South Dakota non-resident card through the same online portal. The key difference is that non-resident cardholders must pre-designate one or two dispensaries where they plan to purchase. This locks you into specific locations rather than allowing you to shop at any dispensary in the state.