South Carolina\u2019s Senate convened for an initial debate on Wednesday about a bill that would allow medical cannabis access for patients with certain health conditions. It\u2019s a renewed push by lawmakers after the body passed an earlier version of the legislation in 2022 that went on to stall in the House over a procedural hiccup.<\/p>\n
During the floor debate on the measure from Sen. Tom Davis (R), members held a lengthy discussion on the merits of the reform proposal and also adopted an amendment on vaping. It\u2019s expected to receive an initial vote on second reading, possibly as soon as Thursday, before a third and final reading that could send it over to the House.<\/p>\n
Senators last week had failed to advance the measure to floor debate<\/a>, falling short on a vote that required two-thirds support. But on Tuesday, lawmakers voted again and came up 23\u201313 to give the bill a special order slot and keep it in play for the 2024 session.<\/p>\n Davis said during Wednesday\u2019s floor session that his goal has always been to \u201ccome up with the most conservative medical cannabis bill in the country that empowered doctors to help patients\u2014but at the same time tied itself to science, to addressing conditions for which there\u2019s empirically based data saying that cannabis can be of medical benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think when this bill passes\u2014and I hope it does pass\u2014it\u2019s going to be the template for any state that truly simply wants to empower doctors and power patients and doesn\u2019t want to go down the slippery slope\u201d to adult-use legalization, he said. \u201cI think it can actually be used by several states that maybe regret their decision to allow recreational use, or they may be looking to tighten up their medical laws so that it becomes something more stringent.\u201d<\/p>\n The #MedicalMarijuana<\/a> bill was just set for special-order debate in the South Carolina Senate, having received the necessary 2\/3rd vote. Debate begins tomorrow afternoon. I\u2019ve got 14 hours\u2019 worth of work to do between now and then to update my floor-debate notes. I\u2019ll be ready. pic.twitter.com\/lEF9aybRfj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tom Davis (@SenTomDavisSC) February 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Overall, the bill would allow patients to access cannabis from licensed dispensaries if they receive a doctor\u2019s recommendation for the treatment of qualifying conditions, which include several specific ailments as well as terminal illnesses and chronic diseases where opioids are the standard of care.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, members adopted an amendment that clarifies the bill does not require landlords or people who control property to allow vaporization of cannabis products.<\/p>\n Certain lawmakers raised concerns during the hearing that medical cannabis legalization would lend to broader reform to allow adult-use marijuana, that it could put pharmacists with roles in dispensing cannabis in jeopardy and that federal law could preempt the state\u2019s program, among other worries.<\/p>\n Here are the main provisions of the\u00a0proposal<\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Kevin Caldwell, southeast legislative manager for the Marijuana Policy Project, praised Davis\u2019s multi-year effort to advance medical cannabis legislation.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has listened to patients as well as fellow senators who have opposed this type of legislation in the past. He has been masterful in making strategic compromises to satisfy both groups,\u201d Caldwell told Marijuana Moment. \u201cWe certainly hope that this is the year that his colleagues in the Senate and the House pass this legislation. The long-suffering patients of the Palmetto State deserve the same safe access that residents of 38 other states and the District of Columbia currently have. \u201d<\/p>\n After Davis\u2019s Senate-passed medical cannabis bill was blocked in the House in 2022, he\u00a0tried another avenue for the reform proposal<\/a>, but that similarly failed on procedural grounds.<\/p>\n The lawmaker has called the stance of his own party, particularly as it concerns medical marijuana, \u201can intellectually lazy position that doesn\u2019t even try to present medical facts as they currently exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a poll released last year found that\u00a0a strong majority of South Carolina adults support legalizing marijuana<\/a>\u00a0for both medical (76 percent) and recreational (56 percent) use\u2014a finding that U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has promoted.<\/p>\n Ben Adlin contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Biden Administration Official Disputes Rumors Of Imminent Marijuana Scheduling Decision Amid Heightened Speculation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post South Carolina Senators Square Off Over Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill On Chamber Floor<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
South Carolina\u2019s Senate convened for an initial debate on Wednesday about a bill that would allow medical cannabis access for patients with certain health conditions. It\u2019s a renewed push by lawmakers after the body passed an earlier version of the legislation in 2022 that went on to stall in theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"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\/72288"}],"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\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72289,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72288\/revisions\/72289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: South Carolina Senators Square Off Over Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill On Chamber Floor<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"