According to a poll, a strong majority of South Carolina adults support legalizing cannabis for medical and recreational purposes.
Winthrop University’s survey, which comes as state legislators work to legalize medical cannabis, found that three out of four adults (76%) support the reform. This includes 80 percent of Democrats and 72 per cent of Republicans.
With 56 percent of Democrats supporting legalization for adult-use marijuana, the support is at 56 percent. The issue was equally split between the GOP South Carolina voters, with 45-45 percent of them supporting it. The overall support for the issue increased by two percentage point over Winthrop’s late-2013 poll.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R.S.C.), who sponsored the federal legalization bill last Congress took note of the cannabis findings.
Interesting results regarding cannabis and gay marriage support by most South Carolina residents. It’s not as controversial as you might think. This is a sign that our state loves freedom.
I wish they had asked about gun violence and women’s issues – maybe next time. https://t.co/zGiiiK0yAw
Nancy Mace (@NancyMace April 12, 2023
She wrote Wednesday that cannabis was not as controversial as people would like you to believe, referring to the poll’s results on marriage equality and cannabis. “This shows me that our state loves freedom.
Interviews were conducted with 1,657 adults in South Carolina between March 25 and April 1, with a +/-2.41 percent error margin.
“Support for South Carolina medical marijuana has steadily increased over the years, especially when other states have moved toward legalization without an apparent collapse in society,” Scott Huffmon Winthrop Poll Director said in press release.
These findings were made possible by advocates and bipartisan legislators to pass a medical marijuana legalization bill by Sen. Tom Davis (R). This effort is now complicated by the fact it didn’t clear the Senate by a cross-over deadline this month.
Although it is possible for the legislation to be passed in this session, it would need supermajority support from the legislature. It is more likely that it will be alive for the second half the 2024 two-year session.
The bill was passed through the Senate Medical Affairs Committee last February. An earlier version cleared all of the Senate last session but fell foul of , a procedural error.
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In the South Carolina gubernatorial election last year Marijuana reform also was a factor. The incumbent governor. Henry McMaster (R), retains his seat over Joe Cunningham who is a former Democratic congressman.
McMaster tried to discourage voters from electing Cunningham in part due to his opponent’s support of marijuana legalization.
Drew McKissick, the South Carolina Republican Party chairman, voiced opposition to Cunningham’s plan to legalize marijuana for recreational and medical purposes. Cunningham was defended by Davis in 2021.
Davis stated that Davis’s party’s position, especially in relation to medical cannabis, was “an intellectually lazy posture that doesn’t even attempt to present medical facts the way they are currently.”
After Davis’s Senate-passed bill for medical cannabis was blocked by the House last year tried another route for reform but it failed procedurally.
Photo by Mike Latimer.
The post GOP Congresswoman Reveals New Poll Showing Majority Support for Marijuana Legalization in South Carolina originally appeared on Marijuana moment.
