COLOMBIA – Election day 2020 saw another winning streak for advocates of loosening marijuana laws across the country, as voters in several states, including some historically conservative ones, passed referendums to legalize cannabis for use. recreational or medicinal.
These results encouraged medical marijuana advocates in South Carolina, who now believe that 2021 may be the year their long-halted proposal finally passes through the legislature, even if some influential opponents remain unmoved.
State Sen. Tom Davis, the Beaufort Republican who has advocated for the legalization of medical cannabis at the Statehouse for years, said he thinks there is a “very, very good chance that something will pass in the next session”.
Just before the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier this year, Davis was on the verge of making progress on his proposal, as he expected the Senate Medical Affairs Committee to approve it for a full Senate vote after he made substantial changes to accommodate the concerns of police and medical officials.
These changes included limiting the list of diseases that cannabis could be used to treat, requiring doctors to accompany patients for whom they have authorized and allowing authorities to observe dispensaries and cultivation operations at any time. Davis ranks it as the country’s most conservative medical marijuana project.
Given how much has already been done for the bill, Davis is planning to seek a fast track in the committee’s process next year, so that all legislators in the Senate and House have the opportunity to vote on it relatively early in the session.
“It has been thoroughly scrutinized in the past five years, as we have had iterations of it, hearings and testimonies and have further refined the project as we go along, so we have a very mature product at this point that already reflects the contribution that all other stakeholders wanted to make “said Davis.
The renewed momentum comes after four more states voted to legalize recreational marijuana through electoral referendums, including states traditionally dominated by the Republican Party like South Dakota and Montana, bringing the total to 15 states.
Perhaps most notably for South Carolina, voters in Mississippi overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana, boosting the legalization movement in Deep South, where he fought hardest to stand. Mississippi results indicate that 36 states now allow medical use of marijuana.
“Mississippi shows that people are way ahead of law enforcement, the medical community, the evangelical community,” said Davis. “They understand the medical benefits.”
Still, some of the same obstacles remain.
State Law Enforcement Division chief Mark Keel, who has long expressed concern about how medical marijuana could be exploited for illicit purposes, must continue to oppose the measure. Keel argued that the state should not change unless the federal government first reclassifies marijuana.
As long as Keel is opposed, Republican Governor Henry McMaster will too, who said he did not want to report the matter to the authorities.
But Davis argued that the Mississippi results show that it could be a political miscalculation by McMaster and any other Republicans in the way.
“I think it is a winning issue for them, and I think it is a strategic mistake to hand the issue over to Democrats,” said Davis. “What you are talking about here is to let an individual, in consultation with his doctor, decide for himself what is best. I’m not sure what can be more fundamental for a limited government than that.”
Keel’s concerns are shared by the SC Medical Association, whose chairman, Dr. Michael Finch, told doctors “still has trouble breaking federal law and agreeing to be the only point in authorizing a narcotic that has not been approved by the FDA or tested to date. “
With so many states now passing electoral referendums on the issue, Davis said it could also be a last resort in 2022 if lawmakers don’t move next year. But he said he sees this as “a way out” for lawmakers who don’t want to take responsibility for themselves and is optimistic that it won’t get to that point.
Follow Jamie Lovegrove on Twitter @jslovegrove.