COLUMBIA, S.C. — As the legislative session of the South Carolina General Assembly begins Tuesday lawmakers shared what is on their agenda for this year, one of them being the legalization of medical marijuana.
As of January 2023, 37 states have legalized the medical use of marijuana…but the palmetto state has yet to join them.
After a bill known as the Compassionate Care Act failed to pass in 2022, the legalization may be up for debate again in this years legislative session.
“We start with a true medical focus as opposed to just availability focus. I think that’s the true disconnect, when more and more legislators and South Carolinians realize hey we’ve had the time to go to school on other states we now have as clean and conservative and medically focused a bill that has ever been envisioned in this country. when we have that realization, we’ll get it passed,” State Senator Danny Verdin said.
Opponents say they are concerned about legalization due to the lack of support from doctors and law enforcement in the state.
"I'm being asked to use my judgement over the medical community, they're against it, law enforcement is against it and who am I to know whether this is something that's really needed in medication or not when the professionals aren't supporting it," Senator Chip Campsen said.
The approval of a current joint resolution would allow voters to have a say in this debate in the November election. but the decision to pass the law will still lie in the hands of state lawmakers.