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The governor of South Carolina says there\u2019s a \u201ccompelling\u201d case to be made for legalizing medical marijuana in the state, despite reservations from law enforcement. And a key GOP lawmaker who\u2019s championed the reform over multiple sessions says he\u2019s eyeing 2026 as the year to finally get the job done.<\/p>\n
Gov. Henry McMaster (R) said last week that he thinks supporters of the reform have a \u201cvery compelling situation,\u201d despite the fact that \u201claw enforcement, almost end-to-end, still have grave concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what we need to do is study it very carefully, get as much information as we can and try to do the right thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sen. Tom Davis (R), who has sponsored several bills to legalize medical cannabis cannabis described his legislation as \u201cconservative.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is strictly limited to medical conditions,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd really this is all about\u2014let\u2019s not forget what we\u2019re after here\u2014this is about helping patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
The office of House Speaker Murrell Smith (R) tempered expectations, however, saying in a statement<\/a> to WSPA 7 News that the leader\u2019s \u201cprevious statement on the medical marijuana bill holds true,\u201d referencing his comments on insufficient support within the GOP caucus to advance the reform.<\/p>\n Davi said he intends to speak with Smith about the issue, claiming that he feels there\u2019s enough support within the GOP-controlled House to advance it.<\/p>\n An earlier version of Davis\u2019s cannabis measure passed the Senate last legislative session but was never taken up in the House<\/a>. He filed a new version for the 2025 session last December<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt requires doctors in patient authorization, doctor supervision,\u201d Davis said at the time. \u201cIt requires pharmacists to dispense it. It is a very conservative bill, because that\u2019s what South Carolinians want.\u201d<\/p>\n As introduced, the legislation would allow patients to access medical marijuana from \u201ctherapeutic cannabis pharmacies,\u201d which would be licensed by the state Board of Pharmacy. Individuals would need to receive a doctor\u2019s recommendation for the treatment of certain qualifying conditions, which include several specific ailments as well as terminal illnesses and chronic diseases where opioids are the standard of care.<\/p>\n Among the public,\u00a0medical marijuana legalization enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support in the state<\/a>, with a poll last year finding that 93 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Republicans and 84 percent of independents back the reform.<\/p>\n The state Senate passed an earlier version of the legislation in 2022, but it stalled in the opposite body over a procedural hiccup.<\/p>\n \u2014 When senators\u00a0began debating the medical marijuana legislation<\/a> last year, 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 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, South Carolina\u2019s hemp industry has been going through it\u2019s own trials<\/a>, with some businesses turning away from the crop amid disappointing returns on their investments into the market.<\/p>\n Colorado Governor Says Bill He Signed Allowing Psychedelic Convictions To Be Pardoned Marks A Step \u2018Towards A Fairer Future\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post South Carolina GOP Governor Says There\u2019s \u2018Compelling\u2019 Case For Medical Marijuana As House Leader Remains Skeptical<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The governor of South Carolina says there\u2019s a \u201ccompelling\u201d case to be made for legalizing medical marijuana in the state, despite reservations from law enforcement. And a key GOP lawmaker who\u2019s championed the reform over multiple sessions says he\u2019s eyeing 2026 as the year to finally get the job done.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":81636,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81635"}],"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=81635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81637,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81635\/revisions\/81637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: South Carolina GOP Governor Says There\u2019s \u2018Compelling\u2019 Case For Medical Marijuana As House Leader Remains Skeptical<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"