The South Carolina legislative session ended May 13, and with it, any chance that South Carolinans would see medical cannabis legalized in 2021. S 0150, which passed with a vote of 9-5 in favor, never made it to the full chamber. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R), who has control of what the Senate discusses and doesn’t, didn’t let the bill come to the floor. But the senator did promise to discuss medical cannabis, next year in 2022.

S 0150

Introduced and written by Senator Tom Davis (R), S 0150 would create the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act. Under this bill, qualifying patients can purchase and possess up to two ounces of medical cannabis every two weeks. Smokable and vapable products aren’t allowed. However, there is a separate House bill pending that could give patients the smokable option. Home growth is also not allowed under S 0150. 

This bill is the most conservative medical cannabis bill in the country. At least, that’s what lawmakers are calling it. Severe limitations set by the state in terms of qualifications. Additional limitations are set on the amount of cannabis a person can purchase and possess. However, it’s still more than some states offer, as they don’t have medical cannabis programs at all. 

Senator Response

It’s unfortunate that S 0150 has been pushed back to next year–especially for Senator Tom Davis. He has been working on a medical cannabis bill for around seven years. 

“The medical-cannabis bill was reported out favorably by the Senate medical affairs committee and placed on the Senate calendar back in March, so I had hoped it would be debated and voted on before we adjourned in May,” Senator Davis said in a recent interview. “But other matters important to the Senate GOP caucus – the heartbeat abortion bill, the open-carry bill, and the death-penalty bill, among others – ended up receiving priority and I was willing to wait my turn, even though I’d been working on this for seven years. 

“In any event, I appreciate Sen. Massey’s and the Senate GOP caucus members’ commitment to set the medical-cannabis bill for special order debate as the first order of business in the Senate when we return in January, and to then give the bill an up-or-down vote.”

However, Senator Davis says that he is optimistic about medical cannabis in the 2022 legislative session. That’s because of the promise he got from Senator Massey.

Future

Legalization looks inevitable for South Carolina. A recent poll showed that around 72 percent of citizens agree and approve of the medical cannabis bill S 0150. The people are asking for change; lawmakers just have to make it happen. But the problem is even if lawmakers pass the bill onto the governor, he says he will veto it. It would then take a total of ⅔ of both chambers to vote against the governor’s veto to overrule it. 

No matter what happens, it won’t take place until next year. At that time, we will update you with the latest.

Make sure to check back for more cannabis and hemp related news.