In a packed room at City Hall in Minnehaha County today, representatives from 21 different businesses gathered to find out if they were to be one of the lucky ones that was given the chance to get a medical cannabis license in Sioux Falls. The City arbitrarily decided previously that five medical dispensaries would be enough in the biggest city in South Dakota. The 21 business entities turned in a combined 79 applications for one of these scarce licenses.
79 balls were put in a bingo cage and drawing was underway shortly after 10 am.
The first ball to be drawn was 01, which belonged to Peter Dikun and his Flower Shop LLC.
The second ball number 69 belonged to Emmett Reistroffer for Genesis Farms LLC.
The 3rd ball number 44 belonged to a group named PJJ Holdings LLC.
The 4th ball number 3 belonged to a group named East River Farms LLC.
And the final golden ticket to be drawn today was number 31 belonging to DejaVu SD LLC.
They went through the remaining 74 applications and selected for them as well. According to City rules a license is NOT guaranteed to the five chosen in the lottery, they must open the sealed applications and determine whether they align with the city’s requirements. Should any of the five businesses that were drawn today fail to meet the city’s guidelines for a dispensary, the application chosen sixth would be offered a license, and so on.
Well there you have it, the City of Sioux Falls has granted a medical marijuana monopoly to these five entities that were lucky enough to win the “Lottery”, in what we here at Hedgehog Watchdog have dubbed “Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Sioux Falls Edition”.
We would like to congratulate the chosen few that have won today. We just hope in the future more opportunities would be allowed for more individuals, we support free markets here and what happened today although fair, wasn’t free.
We had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the lucky winners Mr. Reistroffer of Genesis Farms LLC awhile ago on our podcast talking all things cannabis and battling government regulations, you can check that out here: https://youtu.be/QawOSM_bsSE
The Hedgehog Watchdog 