COLUMBIA, S.C. — Supporters of a medical marijuana bill say they believe they can get the bill passed in South Carolina this year.
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers who are sponsoring the measure, known as the Compassionate Care Act, gathered at the capitol Tuesday afternoon to tout the benefits of the bill, just hours after it was introduced in the Senate.
State Sen. Tom Davis, a Republican from Beaufort, said they believe their bill is what South Carolina wants: a bill that offers help to patients but doesn't lead to recreational use of the drug.
"It is, I am confident to say, the most strictly regulated, socially conservative medical cannabis bill in the United States," Davis said.
The bill only allows medical marijuana to be used for specific conditions, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, PTSD, glaucoma, spasms, and sickle cell anemia. Davis said there also must be medical science that proves the condition can be helped by cannabis.
"Nothing takes place whatsoever regarding cannabis unless a physician, sitting down with a patient, and making an in-person diagnosis concludes that that cannabis can be of medicinal use to that patient," he said.
There also must be physical supervision and authorization for all treatment.
"It's about doctors and patients deciding what's in that patient's best interests, not politicians, not law enforcement," Davis explained.
Each step of the growing and dispensing process would be monitored by the state health department and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, using '"seed to sale" tracking technology. That means at any time, law enforcement would know where the product is and who should legally have it.
Under the proposal, someone could face a $5,000 fine, 5 years in jail, or both if the marijuana is dispensed for recreational use.
State Rep. Peter McCoy, a Republican from Charleston, has a daughter who has epileptic seizures. He said he understands the patients out there who need this treatment after nothing else has worked.
"I've held the hand of an infant who was having seizures and there was nothing I could do, and it was the most helpless feeling that I've ever experienced in my life," McCoy said. "And I hope that many of you never have to feel that."
The group Tuesday was comprised of some of key members on both the Republican and Democratic side of the aisle in the legislature. This is the fourth year a medical marijuana bill has been introduced, and supporters say they've made changes and improvement to it with all the feedback.
"It's simple, it's easy, let's all work together on this," McCoy said.
Davis said he's been told the bill will get a Senate subcommittee hearing in the coming weeks. Essentially the same bill has also been filed in the House.