SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) — It’s been over a year since the first non-tribal medical marijuana dispensary opened in South Dakota, and now there are 94 across the state.
The city of Sioux Falls issued five licenses for medical cannabis — which were all obtained in a lottery drawing in 2021 — but Minnehaha County allowed for just one license, also via lottery.
Now, the business license is available again after the original business that won that lottery has forfeited the license and decided to not go through with its facility development plans on the far eastern side of Sioux Falls.
Genesis Farms LLC planned on remodeling the old (and now closed) location of Alibi Bar and Grill at 7605 East Arrowhead Parkway and turning it into a dispensary. One of the company’s founders and owners, Justin Johnson, owns the building. A new Alibi has been constructed about a quarter-mile away.
In his letter informing Minnehaha County Commissioners on Sept. 15, Chief Operating Officer Emmett Reistroffer cited “circumstances beyond our control, such as the adjacent highway redesign, engineer and contractor delays/lack of availability, and potential annexation into the City of Sioux Falls” as reasons Genesis Farms would be “unable to proceed with