COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Thursday, the South Carolina Senate debated medical marijuana Bill 423 for the second day. It's something that's been up for discussion for years, with no final action taken yet.
But supporters of the measure hope that changes this year.
The lead advocate of the bill, Senator Tom Davis, said they're right where they should be. "I think it was a very substantive day, and as I said earlier, opposition to a bill makes a bill better."
"What you have is the Senate being very deliberative, looking at the language, the Senate making sure there are not any unintended consequences," Davis said. "I think there is a substantial majority of senators that want to empower doctors, that want to provide cannabis safely to patients for treatment."
Cody Callarman, who became a hemp farmer after witnessing how cannabis helped his mom, believes it's time there is a change to South Carolina law.
"It's a pilot program. Let's get into this industry and allow us to start treating up to 200,000 to a quarter million patients that would be eligible in South Carolina, see the effects it has, and from there, we can slowly start opening up more medical issues as it qualities in order to get the medicine," Callarman said.
However, some believe the outcome will be similar to 2022, when a similar bill made it through the Senate but could not pass in the House, which, according to Davis, shouldn't happen again.
"This is anything but rolling the dice. It is making the physician the gatekeeper," Davis said. "No patient can access cannabis unless that physician has a thorough inpatient diagnosis, consideration of all therapies, consideration of that patient's history and that physician makes a determination that it is safe."
The Senate will reconvene next Tuesday for further discussion, and a vote is said to come as early as next week.