PIERRE (AP) - The state House has blocked a bill that would have allowed people with severe seizure disorders to use a compound in marijuana for treatment.
The chamber's 25-43 vote means the bill won't advance to Gov. Dennis Daugaard. It had passed through the Senate.
The bill would have allowed doctors to prescribe preparations of the compound, called cannabidiol, that were low in THC, an intoxicant in marijuana.
Republican Rep. Fred Deutsch says it's "not realistic" that there's no possibility users could get high.
George Hendrickson watched the vote from the House gallery. His 3-year-old son, Eliyah, has a condition that has previously been helped "fabulously" by the treatment.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hendrickson says the outcome shows "ignorance and pigheadedness running amok." The Sioux Falls resident says it makes him feel unwelcome in South Dakota.
