In a Statehouse first in South Carolina, a medical marijuana bill is to get a vote by the full Senate.
The debate on legalizing medical marijuana in the state will start on the Senate floor this week, representing a Statehouse first in an eight-year effort.
Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, has been fighting for the vote since launching the effort in 2015.
“If you pound at the door long enough. If you make your case. If the public is asking for something, the state Senate owes a debate,” Davis told The Post and Courier.
“The people of South Carolina deserve to know where their elected officials stand on this issue.”
It was on January 20th that senators decided unanimously to put the controversial proposal on priority status, guaranteeing a vote in the chamber.
Senators can’t move on to other legislation until they either approve or kill the bill dubbed the “Compassionate Care Act,” which would enable patients to legally use cannabis.
Davis has spearheaded the effort to allow South Carolinians to use marijuana as medicine since 2014.
The debate is expected to begin Jan. 25 or 26, and gives the bill the best chance of South Carolina joining the 36 states already allowing marijuana as medicine.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Charleston, an advocate of medical marijuana, plans to appear with Davis at the Statehouse on Tuesday the 25th.
Davis says his bill would not lead to acceptance of recreational use. Under Davis’ bill, smoking marijuana would remain illegal. Instead, it would permit ingesting or using cannabis through products like ointments, creams, oils, sprays, patches, and vaporizers. Patients could get up to a two-week supply at a time.
