COLUMBIA, S.C. — Debate over the legalization of medical marijuana is set to continue on the South Carolina Senate floor on Thursday, Feb. 8. It comes just days after senators voted to fast-track the legislation.
This isn't the first time a bill like this has been considered.
A similar bill pushing for the legalization of medical marijuana passed in the Senate in 2022, but the House killed it, ruling it unconstitutional because it originated in the Senate and created a new tax.
But now, the Compassionate Care Act is back on the table two years later. It would legalize marijuana for medical use in South Carolina for patients with certain debilitating medical conditions.
Charleston NBC affiliate WCBD reports the senator who proposed the bill, Tom Davis (R-Beaufort), said it would be the “most conservative medical cannabis bill in the country” – limiting medical marijuana use to topical, oral and vaporized products only. Smoking and burning the plant itself would not be allowed.
But despite these restrictions, there’s concern that those not authorized to use medical marijuana would get their hands on it and use it recreationally.
When the legislative session began last month, Senator Chip Campsen (R-Charleston) expressed his frustration with the bill.
"I’m being asked to use my judgement over the medical community," Campsen said at the time. "They’re against it, law enforcement is against it and who am I to know whether this is something that’s really needed in medication or not when the professionals aren’t supporting it."
The bill also specifies what illnesses would be eligible for treatment, where it can be sold legally and the authorization process physicians need to abide by.
Davis argued that the idea that they would be introducing recreational marijuana use in South Carolina is "naïve."
That debate is expected to continue Thursday morning.
Contact Destiny Richards at drichards5@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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