South Carolina lawmakers are considering the medicinal cannabis proposal

Debate on a proposal to legalize medicinal cannabis continues this week in the South Carolina state legislature, with amendments to the bill reportedly set to vote as early as Tuesday.

Members of the state Senate last week began debating legislation introduced by Republican Senator Tom Davis known as the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act.

Under Davis’ proposed legislation, patients with at least one of several qualifying conditions could receive cannabis treatment, including: cancer, multiple sclerosis, a neurological disease or disorder (including epilepsy), sickle cell disease, glaucoma, PTSD, autism, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, Cachexia, a condition that causes a person to be housebound including severe or persistent nausea, a terminal illness with a life expectancy of less than one year, a chronic condition causing severe and persistent muscle spasms, or a chronic medical condition for whom an opioid is prescribed or may be prescribed based on recognized standards of care.

However, there are restrictions on how cannabis treatment can be administered, as eligible patients cannot legally smoke marijuana. Instead, they would use alternative methods such as oils, vaporizers, and patches.

According to the Associated Press, “there will be further debate when the Senate meets Tuesday” and “there may be votes on amendments to change the bill.”

The state Senate began debating Davis’ bill last Wednesday and Thursday, but the Associated Press said lawmakers adjourned before the vote.

However, the debate itself was historic. Davis has been pushing for the legalization of medical marijuana in the Palmetto State since 2015. Last week marked the first time in the GOP lawmaker’s seven-year effort that one of its proposals was actually brought to a Senate debate.

“If you bang on the door long enough. When you make your case. When the public asks for something, the state Senate owes a debate,” Davis told The Post and Courier earlier this month. “The people of South Carolina deserve to know where their elected officials stand on this issue.”

The Post and Courier said Davis said his bill would establish “the most conservative medical marijuana program in the country as a result of continued opposition from law enforcement, particularly from State Law Enforcement Director Mark Keel, who is highly respected in the Statehouse.”

The Associated Press said that Davis “made his law conservative based on concerns from law enforcement and others.”

But the prospects for the legislation will still face headwinds from other lawmakers and interest groups in the state.

Groups like the South Carolina Sheriff’s Association, for example, oppose the proposal.

“If marijuana is medicine, it should be regulated like any other drug is regulated. We are not aware of any other drug that requires General Assembly approval,” said Jarrod Bruder, executive director of the South Carolina Sheriff’s Association. “This (bill) includes many other things – including vaping, including edibles. This does not go to your local pharmacy – it goes to a pharmacy. This is not treated like any other drug.”

South Carolina Law Enforcement Director Mark Keel expressed similar objections, telling local television station WYFF4, “My position on medical marijuana is known and has not changed. Until it’s approved by the FDA, prescribed by a doctor, and dispensed by a pharmacist, I remain against it. Doctors cannot legally prescribe it and pharmacists cannot legally dispense it.”

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, has spoken out against recreational cannabis but said last summer that he needed “more information” about medicinal cannabis.

“I know there are a lot of conditions that are – apparently – treatable or curable with what they call medical marijuana,” McMaster said at the time. “I think we have to be very careful and use common sense and see what experiences have been produced in other states before we act too quickly.”