It was on Wednesday that a South Carolina Senate subcommittee voted to advance a bill called the Compassionate Care Act, that would legalize access to medical marijuana.
The subcomittee voted 5 to 1 on the bill which now moves to the full Senate Medical Affairs panel for discussion and a possible vote.
“I want to thank the law enforcement officials, business leaders and physicians who worked with members of this subcommittee to ensure that this medical cannabis bill reflects the will of the overwhelming majority of South Carolinians … but to also draw a bright line against the recreational use of cannabis,” said Sen. Tom Davis, who authored the bill.
Judy Ghanem, the executive director of patient advocacy group Compassionate SC, stated in an interview with Marijuana Moment, “The main concern that we have is, will enough doctors actually be recommending [medical cannabis] and will enough patients be able to get the medicine.”
“There might not be as many specialists that are willing to recommend as there would be regular physicians,” Ghanem added.
“Concessions have to be made, and we understand that, but from a logistics standpoint, we need to have a law that’s workable,” she also said. “We hope that it’s not narrowed any more than it is now. We’re still going to be happy that patients will get the medicine, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to do everything we can to increase the number of patients that can have access.”
