Modify substances listed on the controlled substances schedule and to declare an emergency.
SB35 updates South Dakota’s controlled substances schedules by adding and clarifying a large number of specific drugs and drug families classified as Schedule I. The bill expands the list of opium derivatives and opiates, hallucinogens, synthetic cannabinoids, substituted cathinones, substituted phenethylamines, substituted tryptamines, and related analogs, including many fentanyl analogs and emerging designer drugs. It also preserves or states certain exceptions, such as FDA-approved products, industrial hemp, marijuana in its natural and unaltered state for the tetrahydrocannabinol provision, and peyote used sacramentally in Native American Church services in its natural state.
The measure is framed as a public safety update and includes an emergency clause, meaning it takes effect immediately upon passage and approval rather than waiting for the normal effective date. In practical terms, it strengthens the state’s ability to prosecute, regulate, and control possession, manufacture, distribution, and trafficking of newly identified or rapidly evolving controlled substances under South Dakota law.
SB35 amends §§ 34-20B-13 and 34-20B-14 of the South Dakota Codified Laws, broadening the state’s Schedule I controlled substances lists and capturing additional opioid, hallucinogenic, stimulant, and synthetic cannabinoid compounds by name and by chemical class. This affects law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, health regulators, and individuals or businesses handling substances that fall within the expanded definitions. Because the bill includes an emergency clause, the statutory changes become effective immediately after enactment, accelerating enforcement against newly listed substances.
The bill appears to have been received favorably and with little visible opposition in the recorded votes. It advanced unanimously in committee and passed both chambers by wide margins, with only a small number of dissenting votes in the final House vote. The lack of recorded committee testimony suggests the measure was treated as a technical or public-safety update rather than a highly debated policy change.
There is little evidence of major controversy in the available record, but the breadth of the scheduling language is the most likely point of concern. The bill sweeps in many chemical analogs and entire substance families, which can raise questions about overbreadth, enforcement complexity, and whether some compounds could be captured before they are fully understood. The explicit exceptions for FDA-approved drugs, industrial hemp, natural marijuana, and Native American Church peyote use indicate an effort to avoid unintended impacts on legitimate medical, agricultural, or religious uses.