This story is updated throughout.

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Medical cannabis businesses could soon lose some legal protections that South Dakota voters put into state law three years ago.

State legislators are considering whether to allow law enforcement to inspect, search, seize materials or prosecute dispensaries, as well as facilities that grow, manufacture or test cannabis.

Republican Sen. Jim Mehlhaff is asking for the changes. Medical marijuana was legalized with support from nearly 70% of voters in South Dakota’s 2020 general election.

The Senate has already given its approval to Mehlhaff’s legislation, SB71. On Tuesday, it advanced through the House Health and Human Services Committee on a 11-1 vote.

The full House of Representatives will debate the bill and possibly give final legislative approval as soon as Wednesday afternoon.

Republican Rep. David Kull, a retired law enforcement officer, is the lead sponsor in the House. He said the sections were unnecessary because the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment already guarantees protections to people accused of crimes. The 2020 law gives extraordinary protections that other businesses don’t have, according to Kull.

Mehlhaff told the committee the specific statutes create “a chilling effect” and aren’t needed. He acknowledged that legalizing medical cannabis required a shift in South Dakotans’ attitudes. But, he said, “This business is maturing. People understand how it works. They should be treated as any other business.”

Dick Tieszen, representing the South Dakota Sheriff’s Association and a former drug prosecutor for the state’s central region, agreed there was uncertainty in the months before and after the 2020 vote. He said the protections against investigation and prosecution were part of the initiated law. Now is the time for that to change, he said.

As of early February, license holders shown on the state medical cannabis website included 78 dispensaries, 20 manufacturing facilities, 43 growers and one independent testing lab. On the customer side, there were 260 approved practitioners and 13,705 approved cardholders.

They’re monitored by a staff of six state Department of Health employees.

“We go in and check bartenders,” Tieszen said. “Shouldn’t we go in to check budtenders?”

Yvonne Taylor, representing the South Dakota Municipal League, joined the request for the repeal. “We just think it’s the height of common sense to allow law enforcement to enforce the law,” Taylor said. “I think this bill just lets everybody help (the Health Department) out.”

Also supporting the legislation were lobbyists for the South Dakota Police Chiefs Association, as well as Protecting South Dakota Kids, an anti-marijuana group, and the South Dakota Attorney General Office.

The only opponent to testify was Jeremiah Murphy, representing the Cannabis Industry Association of South Dakota. He argued that a closer reading of the law says that only the state Department of Health can inspect a business for acting in accordance with the chapter. “Nothing prohibits the police from entering these establishments if the need be,” he said.

Regarding the Fourth Amendment argument, Murphy countered that people don’t live their lives according to the constitution. He said they rely on statutes. None of the testimony gave an example of a police officer prevented from doing his or her job, he said.

Committee members asked the witnesses a variety of questions. Republican Rep. Brandei Schaefbauer asked whether any other industry is exempt from law enforcement — No, Tieszen answered — and suggested that medical cannabis business are receiving special treatment. “I think that’s a fair statement of what I tried to say,” Tieszen replied.

Republican Rep. Kevin Jensen, who chairs the panel and is a strong opponent of legalized marijuana, wondered how the Department of Health would handle illegal activity that was found? Tieszen said they would probably have to go to the state’s attorney in that county or to the attorney general, or ask law enforcement for help putting a case together.

Republican Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt asked Mehlhaff whether the Legislature’s medical-marijuana committee had vetted the bill and was it recommended by the committee. Mehlhaff, who was a member of the marijuana panel, said he presented it for review and the panel vetted it. Missing from his answer was it wasn’t recommended.

Republican Rep. Fred Deutsch called for the House committee to move the bill to the full House. He was a founder of the Protecting South Dakota Kids group and a staunch opponent of legalized marijuana. “I just like that it levels the playing field. I think that’s appropriate,” he said.

Rehfeldt, who first won a legislative seat in the same election that voters adopted IM26, said she was “a little hesitant” about repealing the protections. “I didn’t really hear a problem,” she said. She added there’s still “a persona” that medical marijuana is bad. “I just disagree with that wholeheartedly,” she said.