{"id":74483,"date":"2024-04-22T10:23:30","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T18:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/south-carolina-lawmakers-will-take-up-senate-passed-medical-marijuana-bill-this-week-earning-praise-from-gop-congresswoman\/"},"modified":"2024-04-22T12:45:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T20:45:44","slug":"south-carolina-lawmakers-will-take-up-senate-passed-medical-marijuana-bill-this-week-earning-praise-from-gop-congresswoman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/south-carolina-lawmakers-will-take-up-senate-passed-medical-marijuana-bill-this-week-earning-praise-from-gop-congresswoman\/","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina Lawmakers Will Take Up Senate-Passed Medical Marijuana Bill This Week, Earning Praise From GOP Congresswoman"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A South Carolina House committee will hold a hearing on a Senate-passed medical marijuana legalization bill this week\u2014raising expectations that lawmakers may finally enact the GOP-led measure in the final days of the 2024 session after months of delay. And a Republican congresswoman from the state is urging supporters to \u201ckeep pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legislation from Sen. Tom Davis (R) has been billed as strictly conservative, but it\u2019s yet to move since being delivered to the House in February<\/a>. Now the House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee has announced that a Medical Cannabis Ad Hoc Committee will take up the measure on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Davis pointed out that there are just three weeks left in the session to get the bill through the full chamber before potentially going to the desk of Gov. Henry McMaster (R). Any amendments made in the House would mean that it\u2019d need to return to the Senate for concurrence, so lawmakers have little time to waste.<\/p>\n

The sponsor also pointed out that, at the same time that an Indiana tribe in neighboring North Carolina is opening its first medical cannabis dispensary, his \u201ceven-tighter\u201d bill has laid idle in the \u201cfreedom loving House,\u201d despite recent polling that shows the reform enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support in his state<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.@wachfox<\/a>: Yesterday, North Carolina opened its first medical cannabis dispensary. The South Carolina Senate passed an even-tighter bill over two months ago that\u2019s supported by 83% of SC residents but the \u201cfreedom loving\u201d House ignored it. @syllestedavis<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/JLYSAXNep8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Davis (@SenTomDavisSC) April 21, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Kevin Caldwell, a legislative manager at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), told Marijuana Moment on Monday that the organization is \u201cglad that this historic legislation is getting a committee hearing in the South Carolina House of Representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he added that advocates would have preferred the panel to invite patients and caregivers to testify, but the agenda<\/a> says members will only accept witnesses from law enforcement and the medical community for this hearing. It notes that there may be another meeting in the future to take general testimony.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, any issues they have can be quickly dealt with and finally move this legislation to the floor for a vote,\u201d Caldwell said. \u201cThe patients of South Carolina deserve to know where their state representatives stand on this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who has been a vocal supporter of the legislation, encouraged the legislature to get the job done in a series of social media posts over the weekend.<\/p>\n

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Excellent work Sen. Davis and Rep. Davis \u2013 let’s go! https:\/\/t.co\/eOubEFfoL5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) April 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cMedical cannabis can save lives, reduce drug addiction to opioids, help vets with PTSD, help with chronic illness and provide a better quality of life for the terminally ill,\u201d she said. \u201cKeep pushing!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Medical cannabis can save lives, reduce drug addiction to opioids, help vets with PTSD, help with chronic illness and provide a better quality of life for the terminally ill. Keep pushing! https:\/\/t.co\/Yke3hXvUSO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) April 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The South Carolina Senate had passed an earlier version of the legislation in 2022 but it stalled in the opposite body over a procedural hiccup.<\/p>\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

When senators\u00a0began debating the medical marijuana legislation<\/a>\u00a0in February, the body adopted an amendment that clarifies the bill does not require landlords or people who control property to allow vaporization of cannabis products.<\/p>\n

As debate on the legislation continued, members\u00a0clashed over whether the current version of the legislation contains major differences<\/a>\u00a0from an earlier iteration that the body passed in 2022.<\/p>\n

Certain lawmakers have also raised concerns that medical cannabis legalization would lead 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\u00a0bill<\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n