Is THCA legal in South Dakota? South Dakota hemp and kratom laws

The law in South Dakota

South Dakota writes its hemp rules into two titles of its codified laws. Chapter 38-35, in effect since March 27, 2020, defines industrial hemp as Cannabis sativa L. with no more than 0.3 percent total delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis, and it defines total delta-9 THC as the sum of the THC and THCA content after decarboxylation or a conversion factor. An industrial hemp product is a finished or consumer product made from that hemp within the same limit.

Chapter 34-20B, the State Drugs and Substances Control Act, carries the rest. Its definition of marijuana leaves out industrial hemp as chapter 38-35 defines it, Schedule I lists THC except what occurs in industrial hemp, and the newer sections that govern delta-8, THCA and kratom sit at the end of the chapter.

1. March 27, 2020South Dakota's industrial hemp law, SDCL chapter 38-35, takes effect.
2. July 1, 2024HB 1125 takes effect, barring chemically converted hemp cannabinoids such as delta-8.
3. July 1, 2025HB 1056 takes effect, setting a 7-hydroxymitragynine cap and label rules for kratom products.
4. February 17, 2026The House rejects HB 1151, a kratom ban, 27 to 39.
5. July 1, 2026SB 45 takes effect, adding THCA to the under-21 law for delta-8, THC-O and HHC products.
6. December 11, 2026The federal limit of 0.4 mg total THC per container begins.

THCA, delta-8 and smokable hemp

Because THCA is part of the total, raw hemp flower whose THCA and THC together pass 0.3 percent is not industrial hemp in South Dakota. Section 38-35-21 goes further for compliant hemp too: the sale or use of industrial hemp for smoking or inhaling is a Class 1 misdemeanor. No South Dakota statute, rule, Attorney General opinion or appeals court ruling we found says anything more about THCA flower sold for other uses.

The converted cannabinoid ban came from House Bill 1125 of 2024, now section 34-20B-118. It bars anyone from chemically modifying hemp, or converting CBD, into delta-8, delta-9, delta-10 or another THC isomer, analog or derivative, and from selling or distributing hemp or a hemp product that contains chemically derived cannabinoids. A violation is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

The law defines a chemically derived cannabinoid as one made by a reaction that changes the molecule. It leaves out cannabinoids formed by ordinary decarboxylation of a natural cannabinoid acid without a catalyst, non-psychoactive cannabinoids, and cannabinoids in a topical cream product.

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Age 21 rules for THC products and kratom

Section 34-20B-117, first passed in 2022, makes it unlawful to sell a product meant for human consumption that contains delta-8 THC, THC-O acetate or HHC to anyone under 21, and Senate Bill 45, signed on March 30, 2026, added delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, which is THCA, to that list from July 1, 2026. Selling such a product to a person under 21 is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Buying, receiving, possessing or consuming such a product under 21, or buying one for or giving one to a person under 21, is a Class 2 misdemeanor. A parent or guardian is excused only when the product came from a practitioner's prescription or order.

Growers and the move to federal licensing

Senate Bill 39 ends South Dakota's own hemp licensing program on January 1, 2027. It repeals the grower and processor license sections, the inspection and testing sections and the Department of Health's labeling rule authority, and adds section 38-35-24: only a hemp producer licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or a tribal program may grow hemp in the state. The smoking ban and the hemp definitions stay.

CBD products

A CBD product made from compliant hemp, with no more than 0.3 percent total delta-9 THC and no chemically derived cannabinoids, is an industrial hemp product and outside both the marijuana definition and Schedule I. We found no South Dakota statute or rule that speaks to CBD added to food or drinks. A 2026 bill to ban hemp-derived intoxicants, Senate Bill 61, did not reach a floor vote: the motion to place it on the Senate calendar failed on January 22, 2026.

Kratom, kava, amanita and spores

South Dakota defines kratom as any part of the leaf of Mitragyna speciosa and a kratom product as a food or dietary ingredient that contains it. Section 34-20B-115, first enacted in 2021, bars selling a kratom product to anyone under 21 and bars a person under 21 from buying or possessing one. Since July 1, 2025, section 34-20B-115.1 bars a kratom product with 7-hydroxymitragynine above 2 percent of its alkaloids, with synthetic mitragynine or other synthetic kratom alkaloids, or without a label listing the serving size, the servings that may be taken in 24 hours, the servings per container, the mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine content and a required warning.

Two 2026 kratom bans failed: House Bill 1151 lost in the House 27 to 39 on February 17, 2026, and Senate Bill 77 was not placed on the Senate calendar. We found no South Dakota statute naming kava, amanita muscaria or its compounds, or mushroom spores. Psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I under section 34-20B-14.

The federal change on December 11

From December 11, 2026, the federal definition counts total THC including THCA and limits a finished hemp-derived cannabinoid product to 0.4 mg per container. Read the federal page and What's changing on December 11.