Where efforts to legalize medical marijuana in South Carolina stand in 2024

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD)- Saturday marks a high holiday for cannabis users nationwide, but people in South Carolina won’t be able to celebrate — at least not legally.

420 Day is an unofficial holiday recognized annually by weed enthusiasts on April 20. It is also a day used by advocates to reiterate calls for legalizing and decriminalizing marijuana.

The origins of the date and term “420” are murky, but it is widely believed to have started in the 1970s with a group of California high school students, according to the Associated Press.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Another 14 states allow people to use the drug for medical purposes only.

The use of marijuana is fully prohibited in South Carolina, but a bill working its way through the legislature could change that.

Senate Bill 423, known as the “South Carolina Compassionate Care Act” would legalize the limited use of medical marijuana, allowing doctors to treat patients with certain medical conditions with pot.

Sen. Tom Davis (R-Beaufort), who has been pushing the legislation for decades, called the proposal he crafted “the most conservative medical cannabis bill in the country.”

Only topical, oral, and vaporized products — including, but not limited to, patches, oils, ointments, tinctures, and edible forms — would be allowed under the bill. Smoking and burning marijuana flower would not be allowed.

Additionally, the bill specifies which illnesses would be eligible for treatment, where the drug could be legally sold, and the authorization process that physicians must abide by.

The bill now heads to the House where similar legislation was ruled dead in 2022 due to a procedural challenge.

If lawmakers fail to pass it before the session ends in about a month, the bill will have to be filed again next year.

The bill currently resides in the House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee chaired by Sylleste Davis (R-Berkeley). A special ad-hoc committee is expected to hear testimony on the bill from law enforcement and the medical community on Tuesday.

Where do South Carolinians stand on the issue?

Americans have become increasingly supportive of efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes.

Roughly 88 percent of U.S. adults say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use, according to Pew Research Center. More than half say that marijuana should be legal for both purposes while about a third say that it should only be legal for medical use.

In South Carolina, a poll conducted last year by Winthrop University found that 76 percent of people in the state said they are in favor of laws that would legalize medical marijuana prescribed by a doctor.

A majority of Republicans and Democrats agree on medical marijuana use, but the parties differ on recreational use in the Palmetto State.

Slightly more than half — 56 percent — of the general population said they support legalizing marijuana recreationally with Republicans being almost evenly split on the issue. As for Democrats, only 26 percent said they would oppose such laws.