PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — A bill that seeks to ban the home cultivation of medical cannabis has been sent to conference committee, where two separate versions of the bill will attempt to be reconciled.

The bill, which originally failed in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee was passed after being amended. Following further amendment in the Senate, it was sent to the House Health and Human Services Committee, where the amended Senate version was approved. Once in the House at large, the bill was amended once again, and passed on a vote of 52-17.

Now, the Senate engrossed version of the bill will need to be reconciled with the House engrossed version of the bill.

At issue is a fundamental change in the purpose of the bill. As passed by the Senate, SB 24 sought to impose a limit of three flowering cannabis plants per qualifying cardholder. This version of the bill struck language from the existing law that allowed a patient’s physician to sign off on the growth of more plants if deemed necessary.

Meanwhile, the version of SB 24 passed by the House seeks to impose a total ban on home cultivation of medical marijuana.

If the conference committee reaches a compromise, the reconciled version will need to be approved once again by both the House and Senate. If this version is not approved, the current law will remain in place as written.