COLUMBIA, S.C. — A Republican lawmaker's attempt to stall a bipartisan-backed bill to legalize certain forms of marijuana for medical use failed as the proposal was advanced Thursday by the state House's only Democratic-majority committee.
The Senate-approved bill now goes to the full House and, if approved, would make South Carolina the 38th state to legalize medical marijuana. The measure, approved by the Medical, Military Public and Municipal Affairs Committee by a 15-3 vote, will not need significant bipartisan support to pass because the Senate passed the legislation well before this week's "crossover" deadline. The House is off next week for furlough, so it's not immediately clear when the lawmakers will debate the bill. The legislative session ends in early May.
"Anytime as a legislative body we can do something to help people, we ought to give that every consideration," said state Rep. Wendy Brawley, D-Richland.
Under the proposal approved Thursday by the Democrat-led committee, South Carolinians with certain conditions, such as cancer, epilepsy or terminal illnesses, could be prescribed certain forms — oils, vaporizers, salves, lotions and creams and patches — and amounts of marijuana if authorized by a doctor.
Medical marijuana would be available only at specific pharmacies.
Smoking marijuana and its recreational use would still be illegal.
On Thursday, state Rep. Vic Dabney, R-Kershaw, proposed 129 amendments, most of them rejected or thrown out. They included a push to require continuing education for doctors who authorize a patient to use medical marijuana, and that written warnings saying marijuana could stay in a person's system for up to 12 hours and could cause anxiety and disorientation be given when medical marijuana is dispensed.
Only one of his amendments —requiring the disclosure of whether the marijuana contains sativa, indica or a hybrid and any possible allergens — was approved.
Dabney voted against sending the bill to the full House.
"Under certain severe circumstances when someone is terminally ill, there's no doubt that they're in the end stage of their life or they're in hospice care, or something along those lines," he said. "I believe in giving them anything that makes them feel better. My concern with this bill ... is it's too broad based."
Like Dabney, Republican Reps. Sandy McGarry and Ryan McCabe voted against advancing the legislation.
McGarry, R-Lancaster, noted the Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve marijuana for medicinal purposes. However, the U.S. House of Representatives in a bipartisan vote passed a bill to decriminalize marijuana on a federal level.
She worried that people would drive under the influence of marijuana, though people can drive under the influence of other legal prescription drugs when they're advised not to.
And McCabe, R-Lexington, objected that the bill limits the number of growers in the state to 15 operators.
"Limiting to 15 growers is going to make 15 growers incredibly rich," McCabe said.
State Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, who sponsored S. 150, spent roughly seven years working to pass medical marijuana legislation through the Legislature over the concerns of some in law enforcement, members of his own party and religious groups. The legislation in large part was successful this year because of how narrow it was written by Davis, who sought to appease the groups that worried his original proposal was too broad.
State Rep. Deon Tedder, who sits on the House committee, said Thursday that the legislation does not allow marijuana for recreational use. By regulating its medical use, the state can ensure the marijuana is not laced with dangerous components, he added.
"What we're doing here is making a product that's safe, that's determined by the medical professionals that we already trust to prescribe us opioids and pain relievers," said Tedder, D-Charleston. "I'd much rather have people been having access to safe use of medical marijuana and then having them go out and try to go to another state or illegally obtain marijuana, recreational marijuana or street marijuana, as some may call it, from the underground industry."
