A bill that would allow medical marijuana to be used in South Carolina again reached the Senate floor, and the Republican lawmaker who has pushed relentlessly for the proposal over the past seven years said he thinks it can finally be approved.
But even with Senator Tom Davis’ optimism, there are still obstacles. Law enforcement and some commercial medical groups oppose the bill as they do with most medical marijuana legislation.
The bill passed the Senate Medical Affairs Committee 9-5, with four Republicans and two Democrats against it. But two of the most conservative members of the chambers did not vote. And the project has a deadline to pass the Senate next week or it is almost impossible for the Chamber to carry it out in this session.
Davis said he will meet each opposition senator personally and try to convince them.
“We cannot wait any longer for these people to have their suffering relieved. It’s immoral, ”said Beaufort, a Republican.
Thirty-eight states have already approved medical marijuana, including four more since Davis last pushed the bill. This includes Mississippi, where 58% of voters approved the measure in November.
Davis said he continues to refine his bill to make it as conservative as possible. Doctors would have to meet with a patient in person before prescribing marijuana, check for a history of substance abuse and have a written treatment plan. The proposal specifies the diseases to be treated, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma. sickle cell anemia and autism.
The bill calls for farmers to be closely watched to grow the drug and to set up separate dispensaries, outside of doctors and pharmacists. And to gain broader support, Davis made a fundamental commitment that cost him among typical medical marijuana supporters.
“I took the smoke out. There is no smoke, there is no leaf burning here. Now it’s oil, ”said Davis.
Senators who oppose the bill said they are struggling to overcome the fact that the use of marijuana is still illegal.
“Senator de Beaufort has been pulling my heart for more than six years on this issue. It has some very, very good points, ”said Senate President Harvey Peeler.
Gaffney’s Republican then held up a letter from the South Carolina Medical Association reminding lawmakers that his organization and the State Law Enforcement Division remain against the bill.
“My head tells me to vote against it,” said Peeler.
The argument that marijuana is still illegal with the federal government is especially disappointing for Republicans who supported a bill passed earlier this year that banned almost all abortions. The measure was immediately suspended by a federal judge who said it was almost certainly against current federal law.
“They are howling in pain and we are denying them something that their doctor wants to give them because of some political reason in 1971 that President Nixon wanted to move on to a bunch of hippies,” said Davis.
With Davis working hard on the bill, it is unclear how much support he has in the House. But Davis seems close to winning over someone else, Governor Henry McMaster, himself a former prosecutor.
“He has a very convincing argument,” McMaster told the Post and Courier of Charleston in a podcast last week. “I try to keep an open mind. There may be a way to do this, I don’t know. But I am open to hearing more about it because it is clear that it alleviates a lot of suffering. The trick is how to prevent this from releasing marijuana production in the state that would cause harm. ”
After the committee meeting, Rosemary Wallace of Rock Hill hugged Davis’ neck. The Army veteran said she can use medical marijuana in Colorado and Florida, but when she moved with her husband to South Carolina, the thing that replaced about 37 pills to ease joint pain and have a good night sleep was now illegal.
“I’m here breaking the law just to get something that a doctor says I can use elsewhere,” said Wallace.
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