Stop the “Retailer Trap” & Regulatory Overreach
SB 221A is an overreaching, legally vulnerable, and economically destructive framework that treats taxpaying small business owners like criminals. Instead of focusing on serious public health outcomes, this bill focuses on punitive measures and “litigation magnets” that undermine the very businesses the state should be partnering with.
Why SB 221A is a “Time-Delayed Ban” on Vaping
SB 221A creates a regulatory “death spiral” designed to eventually shutter every local nicotine retailer in South Dakota!
By stripping away the “knowingly” legal protection, the bill establishes a strict liability standard where clerks are penalized for honest mistakes, such as being deceived by high-quality fake IDs . This works in tandem with the “Clerical Equalization” trap, which treats a simple missing sign or a recordkeeping error with the same “strike” severity as a serious public safety violation . Whether through an honest mistake or a minor administrative oversight, the bill ensures a “gotcha” outcome where every daily transaction becomes a gamble against the business’s survival. Once the inevitable “four strikes” occur within a 36-month window, the state imposes an administrative death sentence: mandatory license revocation and the forced destruction of all inventory as “hazardous materials.”
This attrition is permanent because of the bill’s hostile zoning requirements. By treating law-abiding business owners like violent sex offenders with a 500-foot school buffer, the legislation ensures that any structural change or lease renewal could trigger a total loss of the “grandfathered” status . If the exception is revoked, the retailer is trapped: they must either relocate to a diminishing number of compliant zones or simply shutter their doors forever. By simultaneously outlawing curbside pick-up, app-based ordering, and all direct-to-home shipping, the legislation erases the final safety nets for consumer access, leaving adult South Dakotans with zero legal options as the retail map is systematically erased .
THE 8 PILLARS OF FAILURE
Mimcry trap
The bill defines “Nicotine Product” so broadly it captures anything intended to “mimic or replicate the pharmacological effect of nicotine”. While food is excluded, this sweeps in non-food items like herbal “chill” pouches or aromatic essential oil diffusers.
TECH trap
SB 221A defines “Nicotine Product” to include “delivery systems, components, parts, or accessories”
SEX OFFENDER ZONING
SB 221A treats local business owners like sex offenders, requiring they be 500-feet away from any school or “community safety zone.” A state is NOT open for business, when you treat them like convicts!
bans modern commerce
SB 221A outlaws curbside pick-up, internet orders, and other modern business methods. These methods are already strictly regulated by the federal PACT Act; this bill simply eliminates legitimate business models.
CAPACITY trap
SB 221A creates a standard of liability based on a microchip’s “latent capacity” to have a game on it, which a retailer has no ability to audit.
equality trap
SB 221A fails to distinguish between a admin error and a serious public safety violation. A minor clerical error is funneled into the exact same escalating penalty schedule as selling to a minor
DUE PROCESS VIOLATIONS
SB 221A creates a standard of liability based on a microchip’s “latent capacity” to have a game on it, which a retailer has no ability to audit.
"Gotcha" trap
SB 221A removes the word “knowingly” from sales violations, creating a standard of strict liability for retail employees
TAKE ACTION TODAY
Contact the Whole Senate
Use the pre-written message below to contact members of the Senate and urge them to VOTE NO ON SB 221A.
Or simply fill out your information and hit submit to send them the pre-written email expressing your concern and issues with SB 221A as it is written.
Tell Senators: Vote NO on SB 221A
Click the phone or email icon on any Senator card to contact that member directly. The phone icon will open your device’s dialer (or call app) so you can place the call immediately; the email icon will open your mail client.
Each action contacts the member individually, so you can personalize your remarks — when calling or emailing, remember to mention what bill you’re contacting them about, when the bill is coming up for hearing (Tue, Feb 17 — Room 412 — 7:30 AM CST), your name, your city, and the reasons you would encourage them to vote NO.
And remember to encourage them to vote NO on SB 221.
