COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) – Members of the South Carolina General Assembly and advocates are calling on state lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow patients authorized by their doctors to buy medical cannabis.
The state’s House of Representatives is considering Senate bill S.423, the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act.
A news release from the Compassionate Care Alliance, which is advocating for the bill, states it is holding a news conference at 10:30 a.m. at the State House lobby.
The bill would allow the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control to license and oversee “a select number of medical cannabis cultivation centers, processing facilities, independent testing labs, and dispensaries.” Patients suffering from specific medical conditions who obtain written endorsements from their doctors would receive registration cards that would allow them to buy a restricted quantity of medical cannabis derivatives from an authorized cannabis pharmacy.
“Healthcare bureaucrats and czars should not be telling physicians and patients what to do,” Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, the bill’s lead sponsor, said. “Medical freedom — the primacy of the physician-patient relationship — is something legislators like to say they champion, so let’s empower physicians who think cannabis can be therapeutic for their patients.”
The group says 38 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico have enacted similar laws since March 2023.
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