Despite attempts at stalling the Senate approved medical cannabis bill, the South Carolina House moves forward with discussion. On March 31, the Health and Environmental Affairs Subcommittee of the House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee (3M) unanimously approved an amended version of S0150. 

This bill, called the Compassionate Care Act, would legalize medical cannabis for qualifying patients across the state. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Tom Davis, R, claims S0150 is the most conservative medical cannabis bill in the country should it become approved. Now, S0150 will finally see its first debate in the South Carolina House. 

S0150 Bill Details

Under the Compassionate Care Act, a limited number of qualifying conditions could receive a medical cannabis recommendation from an accredited doctor. Those include: cancer, MS, epilepsy, glaucoma, Crohn’s, sickle cell anemia, Ulcerative Colitis, wasting syndrome, autism, muscle spasms, PTSD, and end of life and terminal patients with less than a year to live. Regulators could add additional qualifying conditions in the future without the need to consult lawmakers.

However, smokable products, along with home cultivation of medical cannabis by patients or their caregivers would remain illegal under S0150. Each sale would be subject to the state’s six percent sales tax. Revenue from this tax would split into four different categories. 75 percent of revenue would go to the state’s general fund. 10 percent would go towards drug use disorder treatment programs and another 10 percent for cannabis research and education. The final five percent would go to the state law enforcement fund to help educate officers on the new law while upholding the peace. 

Before the Health and Environmental Affairs subcommittee moved forward with a vote, several amendments were considered. There were two approved by the subcommittee. First, S0150 will now allow podiatrists to recommend medical cannabis under specific requirements. This would help increase access for patients and allow more doctors to recommend medical cannabis. The second amendment approved would fix technical and drafting errors found throughout S0150. Upon the approval of these two amendments, the 3M subcommittee unanimously approved S0150 and moved the bill to a full committee hearing.

Full Committee Discussion of S0150

A week after the Health and Environmental Affairs subcommittee moved S0150 forward, the 3M committee took up discussion. Several concerns were raised in the committee meeting, which lasted longer than seven hours, leaving the committee to push their vote on S0150 to Thursday April 7. 

One concern was for an increase in impaired driving should medical cannabis legalize for qualifying conditions. To confront concerns, Senator Davis spoke at the committee about the actual decrease in impaired driving cases in legal states. 

“I keep hearing that if we authorize medical cannabis, there’s going to be an increase in impaired driving,” Senator Davis said. “We have had the experience at 37 states with this—decades of experience…saying there is a negative correlation between medical cannabis laws and incidents of impaired driving impaired driving goes down, down, unequivocally down.”

Another speaker, a retired Marine Corps member with PTSD, insomnia, and more, spoke about the need to legalize medical cannabis. “In 2017, exhausted and out of options, I gained access to lab-tested pharmaceutical grade cannabis,” he said. For this veteran, cannabis removed anger, increased his appetite, allowed for healthy sleep, stimulated digestion, and provided mood consistency to help with his clarity and focus. “Within three months of integrating cannabis, I was off all the medications prescribed by the [Department of Veterans Affairs].”

Next Steps for S0150

Because discussion and debate took longer than expected, the 3M committee will hold their vote on S0150 on April 7. Should S0150 become approved by 3M, then it moves to the full South Carolina House chamber for a vote. If the House approves of S0150, the bill returns to the Senate. Upon receiving the bill, the Senate must ratify the amendments and changes approved by the House. Should the Senate agree with the House changes, then the bill heads to Governor Henry McMaster’s desk. 

If the Senate doesn’t approve of the amendments, then two options are available. The first option would see the Senate and House creating a bicameral committee to come to an agreement between the two chambers. If they are unable to come to an agreement, then the bill dies. The second option could see the House and Senate not calling for a bicameral committee. If the chambers go with this option, S0150 dies automatically without further discussion. It’s unclear how S0150 will move forward. As more information becomes available, we will update you with the latest.

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