A South Carolina state senator has reintroduced what he’s called the “most conservative” medical marijuana legalization proposal in the country.
That’s the pitch Republican state Sen. Tom Davis will use to try to convince fellow lawmakers to finally pass the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act after rejecting the issue last year, according to Spartanburg TV station WSPA.
Davis prefiled the bill last week ahead of a legislative session that won’t begin until 2025.
Third try for medical marijuana in South Carolina
For two sessions running, similar proposals advanced through the state Senate but were rejected by the South Carolina House.
Observers believe conservative states might be more open to medical cannabis in President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
Trump expressed support for a failed adult-use marijuana legalization push in Florida and has also spoken in favor of medical cannabis.
Davis’ previous proposal would have banned smokable flower outright, limited dispensing to licensed pharmacies and imposed felony charges on anyone possessing marijuana without a physician’s recommendation.
The bill also would have limited MMJ businesses in the state to:
- No more than three licensed “therapeutic cannabis pharmacies” per county.
- Fifteen “cultivation centers” with no more than 87,120 square feet of canopy.
- Thirty processing centers.
- Four licensed transporters.
- Five testing laboratories.
Bill would ’empower’ physicians, patients
According to WSPA, Davis will try to sway his fellow South Carolina conservatives by emphasizing how “doctors and patients would be empowered by the bill’s passage.”
“It requires doctors in patient authorization, doctor supervision,” he said, according to the television station.
“It requires pharmacists to dispense it. It is a very conservative bill because that’s what South Carolinians want.”
State-level legalization appears to have plateaued nationwide as the issue passes from voter initiatives to state lawmakers.
Legislators have historically been more reluctant to embrace marijuana legalization.
Medical marijuana legislation is also bottled up in the state Legislature in adjacent North Carolina, while voters in Nebraska overwhelmingly voted to approve MMJ legalization on Election Day.
South Carolina is the home state of Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a marijuana advocate and avid Trump supporter.
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