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South Carolina\u2019s Senate kicked off debate on a medical marijuana bill on Wednesday, marking the first time in the Republican sponsor\u2019s eight-year legalization effort that his legislation has made it to the chamber floor.<\/p>\n
The body is expected to hold several full legislative days\u2019 worth of discussion on the measure before taking a vote on it.<\/p>\n
The Compassionate Care Act was prefiled in late 2020 and passed out of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee<\/a> last March, but a lone senator blocked it from reaching the chamber floor in 2021. Since then, the bill\u2019s sponsor, Sen. Tom Davis (R), has redoubled his efforts to get the bill across the finish line.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019ve attempted to do over the last several months is make the intellectual argument,\u201d Davis said, \u201cmake the argument based on logic, make the argument based on the law, make the argument based on what these empirical studies show.\u201d<\/p>\n Davis spent much of Wednesday\u2019s floor session answering questions from critics who appeared to have little understanding of medical marijuana programs in other states. He emphasized that the new program would be relatively limited in scope, forbidding patients from smoking or even possessing the plant form of marijuana and restricting qualifying conditions to only those that evidence shows cannabis can help.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things that I decided early on was that this was going to be a different kind of medical cannabis bill,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t going to be like the medical cannabis bills in the 36 other states that have medical cannabis laws, because I wanted it to be a very tightly regulated medical bill\u201d rather than a back door to full legalization.<\/p>\n My medical-marijuana bill is first up for debate tomorrow in the South Carolina Senate. Session begins at 1:00 pm, so I will take the well around 1:30 pm. You can watch the debate live at: https:\/\/t.co\/NZ4UUKFWiv<\/a>. Please retweet to share link, and please watch if you\u2019re able! pic.twitter.com\/uBZOM5LEuq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tom Davis (@SenTomDavisSC) January 25, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n As the result of an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R), Davis\u00a0said last week<\/a>, the bill was made a special order, meaning that now that senators have begun debate on the measure, they will have to vote on it before taking up other legislation.<\/p>\n Davis also said House Speaker Jay Lucas (R) has agreed to \u201callow the bill to go through the House process\u201d if it advances through the Senate, although a spokesperson for Lucas later told the Charleston Post and Courier that \u201cSen. Davis doesn\u2019t speak for Speaker Lucas.\u201d<\/p>\n If the bill proceeds as Davis has described, the senator said he expected \u201cthat we\u2019re going to be standing here in three or four months celebrating a bill signing\u201d with Gov. Henry McMaster (R).<\/p>\n \u2014 Davis has emphasized the bill\u2019s conservative approach to medical marijuana, more limited than legislation that Mississippi lawmakers sent to their governor\u2019s desk<\/a> on Wednesday. Advocating for the plan last session, the South Carolina senator repeatedly called it \u201cthe most conservative medical cannabis bill in the country.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI understand what South Carolinians want,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cThey want to empower doctors, they want to help patients, they do not want recreational use.\u201d<\/p>\n On the Senate floor Wednesday, Davis said he was willing to entertain further amendments to tighten the bill, for example by finding a way to more closely involve state-licensed pharmacists in dispensing medical marijuana.<\/p>\n As drafted, the\u00a0bill, S. 150<\/a>,\u00a0would allow patients with qualifying conditions to possess and purchase cannabis products from licensed dispensaries. It would impose two-week sales limits on patients, letting them buy up to 4,000 milligrams of THC in cannabis-infused topicals, 1,600 milligrams in edible products or 8,200 milligrams in oils meant for vaporization.<\/p>\n Smokable products, as well as home cultivation of cannabis by patients or their caretakers, would be forbidden. Patients caught smoking small amounts of marijuana would be subject to a fine of up to $500 for a first offense. Subsequent offenses would carry a misdemeanor criminal penalty and up to 30 days in jail.<\/p>\n While more qualifying conditions could be added in the future, the bill\u00a0specifies cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and other neurological disorders, glaucoma, Crohn\u2019s disease, sickle cell anemia, ulcerative colitis, cachexia or wasting syndrome, autism, nausea in homebound or end-of-life patients, muscle spasms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) provided a patient can establish they experienced one or more traumatic events. Patients diagnosed with less than one year to live could also qualify.<\/p>\n Notably, the bill would also allow access among patients with \u201cany chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition for which an opioid is currently or could be prescribed by a physician based on generally accepted standards of care,\u201d for example severe or persistent pain.<\/p>\n Medical marijuana would be subject to the state\u2019s 6 percent sales tax, though the bill specifies that \u201cno other tax may be imposed on the purchase of cannabis or cannabis products,\u201d including by local governments. After funding the new program\u2019s costs, 90 percent of revenue would go to the state\u2019s general fund, with the remainder split up among research to detect drug-impaired drivers (3 percent), drug safety education (2 percent) and separate university research into cannabis dosing, efficacy, side-effects and related subjects.<\/p>\n For the initial rollout, regulators would approve 15 licenses for vertically integrated marijuana businesses that would control production, distribution and sales. More than a hundred dispensaries would be licensed under the bill. Licenses would also be granted to independent testing laboratories.<\/p>\n Local governments could set a limit on the number of medical cannabis businesses in their jurisdiction but could not ban them entirely. Land use and zoning burdens \u201cshould be no greater for a cannabis-based business than for any other similar business,\u201d the bill says.<\/p>\n The state Department of Health and Environmental Control would oversee licensing and other regulations. A newly established Medical Cannabis Advisory Board would be in charge of adding qualifying conditions. The advisory board would consist of the department director as well members appointed by the governor: doctors, a research scientist with expertise in cannabis medicine, a pharmacist, a patient, a parent of a minor patient and one representative of a licensed cannabis establishment.<\/p>\n Davis has championed medical marijuana in South Carolina since 2014 and at a rally last week brought out a binder that he said contained eight years of research into the issue. He said he would use the information to \u201ctake on every single argument that has been raised in opposition to this bill, and I\u2019m going to show that they cannot stand in the way of facts and evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n The senator even came to the defense of a Democratic gubernatorial candidate<\/a> in the state, former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC), after Cunningham campaigned on cannabis legalization and drew criticism from the state GOP chairman\u00a0for wanting to \u201cplay with fire.\u201d Chairman Drew McKissick said at the time that organization opposed \u201cany\u201d effort to end prohibition.<\/p>\n In a now-deleted tweet<\/a>, Davis called the statement from his party \u201can intellectually lazy position that doesn\u2019t even try to present medical facts as they currently exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, the state GOP paid to circulate a message from a sheriff attacking Davis\u2019s bill.<\/p>\n In a lengthy message paid for by the S.C. GOP (@SCGOP<\/a>), Aiken County Sheriff Mike Hunt comes out swinging against medical marijuana.<\/p>\n And at the bottom of the email: \u201cIn a time where law enforcement officers are facing more hatred, mistrust, and even threats to defund\u2026\u201d pic.twitter.com\/q9nVDpcFGF<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Colin Demarest (@demarest_colin) January 21, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Davis referred to the maneuver by his party as \u201cthe elephant in the room\u201d on the Senate floor Wednesday, saying he was offended by the misinformation and planned to rebut every misleading claim the group made.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to go through every single legal argument that\u2019s been put up there\u2014lack of medical evidence, unintended social consequences\u2014and take them all up and discuss them and refute them,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n The state party organization separately slammed a federal legalization bill<\/a> from U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican who represents South Carolina in Congress.<\/p>\n “It’s Tom Davis’s pot party, but we’ll be the ones left crying.” ~ Anonymous pic.twitter.com\/zuEjqFfAfM<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tom Davis (@SenTomDavisSC) January 25, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Meanwhile, patient groups and other advocates who appeared at last week\u2019s rally with Davis said S. 150 would reduce harm and expand legal access to safer drugs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are counting on our lawmakers to listen to the many voices of patients who, like my daughter, need a safer, more effective alternative to opioids and other debilitating pharmaceutical drugs and pass the Compassionate Care Act NOW!\u201d Jill Swing, executive director of the S.C. Compassionate Care Alliance, said in a press release.<\/p>\n Candace Carroll, state director at Americans for Prosperity South Carolina, said that Davis\u2019s bill would mean that South Carolina could \u201censure more individuals access the most transformative treatments and reduce the harms presented by a robust black market.\u201d<\/p>\n A poll released last February found that\u00a0South Carolina voters support legalizing medical marijuana<\/a>\u00a0by a five-to-one ratio. But the state does not have a citizen-led initiative process that has empowered voters in other states to get the policy change enacted.<\/p>\n Support for medical marijuana legalization among South Carolina residents has been notably stable, as a 2018 Benchmark Research poll similarly found 72 percent support for the reform, including nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of Republicans. Davis said last year that if the legislature didn\u2019t advance the reform, he\u2019d propose a bill to put the question of medical marijuana legalization to voters<\/a>\u00a0through a referendum.<\/p>\n Also in 2018, 82 percent of voters in the state\u2019s Democratic primary election\u00a0voted in favor of medical cannabis legalization<\/a>\u00a0in a nonbinding ballot advisory vote.<\/p>\n Lawmakers\u00a0prefiled four marijuana measures for the 2019 session<\/a>, but they did not advance.<\/p>\n Davis said ahead of the Senate session that after years of effort, even seeing his bill advance to the chamber floor was a victory.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you pound at the door long enough, if you make your case, if the public is asking for something, the state Senate owes a debate,\u201d he told the\u00a0Post and Courier. \u201cThe people of South Carolina deserve to know where their elected officials stand on this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Medical Marijuana Bill Passes Mississippi Legislature And Heads To Governor\u2019s Desk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post South Carolina Senate Begins Long-Anticipated Medical Marijuana Debate<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
South Carolina\u2019s Senate kicked off debate on a medical marijuana bill on Wednesday, marking the first time in the Republican sponsor\u2019s eight-year legalization effort that his legislation has made it to the chamber floor. The body is expected to hold several full legislative days\u2019 worth of discussion on the measureContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":52536,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52537,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52535\/revisions\/52537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: South Carolina Senate Begins Long-Anticipated Medical Marijuana Debate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"