I’m committed towards a medicinal marijuana program for the well-being and health of South Carolinians.
By Jessica Holdman, South Carolina Daily Gazette
The debate on medical marijuana is back in the South Carolina Statehouse, and the Senate Medical Committee chairman wants to “redo” it.
Senate is currently stalled on the latest version of legislation that would legalize and regulate prescriptions of cannabis for the treatment of symptoms associated with cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), epilepsy and post-traumatic disorder (PTSD).
The proponents want a vote to be held early in the session of parliament, which starts on Tuesday.
Danny Verdin, Senate Medical Affairs chairman, spoke to reporters in a room filled with reporters the day before the session. He urged senators to pass this bill. The Laurens Republican said that he would be “sorely dissatisfied” if it was left on the Senate’s calendar. He spoke to reporters a day before the session.
Verdin stated, “I am committed to a medical cannabis program for the health and wellbeing of South Carolinians.”
Verdin was successful in pushing the bill through his committee to go directly to the Senate Calendar for debate. It’s stuck there. Since then, the objections of two Republicans has prevented senators from even considering it.
Sen. Tom Davis, who has led a nine year effort to legalize medical marijuana, hopes that 2024 will be the year when it is finally passed. He has tried to modify the bill for years to accommodate the opposition from law enforcement led by State Law Enforcement Division chief Mark Keel. Keel is adamant that he won’t support marijuana regulation until the federal government legalizes it.
Davis claims that his measure is very conservative. He believes that it would make South Carolina the most restrictive state in terms of marijuana laws for medical purposes. 38 states currently allow this.
Smoking marijuana, for instance, would be illegal under his bill. The prescribed cannabis would need to be consumed through edibles, or inhaled via vapes.
The law limits the size of legal cannabis farms to two acres and requires pharmacies to be licensed to fill prescriptions. It also sets out requirements for patients who qualify for cannabis cards.
The electronic patient database is also created. It also excludes those who work in the public safety sector, commercial transport or heavy machinery.
The Senate has already passed this bill.
Verdin’s Committee first brought it to the floor of the Senate in 2021. The bill was stuck in the calendar for the past year. In February 2022, a supermajority voted to grant the bill a special debate status. After three weeks of debate on the floor, it was passed by 28-15.
It was rejected on a technicality when it reached the House floor. The Republican opponent argued that a bill creating a new tax must be introduced in the House. It was then thrown out without debate.
“We were played a trick,” said Senate majority leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield.
Two years later, Davis’s nearly identical bill (minus the tax component) is again blocked from the Senate Calendar. A single senator is allowed to block a debate under Senate rules. A supermajority can override it.
Senate Education Chair Greg Hembree, R-Little River, is one of the two Republicans who have raised an objection this time. Former solicitor Greg Hembree (R-Little River) has described marijuana as a gateway drug to narcotic abuse and expressed concern that those selling medical marijuana might be making money from people who are addicted.
Davis has said that he hopes to have the bill passed quickly by the Senate, and then send it on to the House early in February. He is hoping the House will consider it before the budget debate.
Massey said that a debate would be likely. He voted for the bill in 2022.
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Davis stated that the bill was designed to provide what South Carolinians wanted. What they want is for doctors to be empowered and patients to have access to medical treatment that has been deemed beneficial by the American Journal of Medicine.
Even if the Senate passes it a second, time it faces heavy opposition from the House.
Two House committee leaders expressed their opposition on Monday.
Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Seneca, said: “Once Pandora’s Box is opened, you can’t close it.”
The Chairman of the House Labor Commerce and Industry Committee cited other states where medical marijuana was first legalized and then opened up for recreational use.
Verdin dismissed the argument that legalizing marijuana for recreational use is a gateway to medical marijuana. He urged senators to give House colleagues “the necessary chance” to take this important step forward in the realm of legitimate and honest expansion of medical liberty.
The South Carolina Daily Gazette published this story first.
GOP congresswoman touts new poll showing majority support for marijuana legalization in South Carolina
The original post South Carolina senator pushes for medical marijuana vote next month was first published on Marijuana Moment.
