South Carolina Lawmakers Advance Hemp Restriction Bills, Including One To Allow THC Drinks

*One lawmaker said the state should protect minors without “trampling all
over the freedoms” of adults.*

*By Adrian Ashford, South Carolina Daily Gazette*

Legislation banning or nearly banning hemp products infused with THC,
providing an alternative high in a state where marijuana remains illegal,
advanced Wednesday to the House floor.

House Judiciary Chairman Weston Newton, the chief sponsor of both bills,
said he proposed two options in recognition that a total ban may fail,
leaving the intoxicating products available to children.

His more lenient proposal gives an exception for “intoxicating hemp
beverages.” A business could apply for a license to sell 12-ounce cans or
containers that contain up to 5 milligrams each of delta-9 THC, the
compound in marijuana that gets people high. Like alcohol, sales would be
limited to adults 21 and older.

The industry has flourished in a legal gray area since the 2018 federal
farm bill effectively legalized hemp and very low levels of THC extracted
from it. It was supposed to help farmers looking to grow hemp for
non-intoxicating uses.

But it created a giant loophole: While it specified that delta-9 THC
concentrations in hemp up to 0.3 percent “on a dry weight basis” were
legal, neither it nor a 2019 state law that mirrored the federal language
set any parameters for how much of the legal compound could be added to
drinks or edibles, such as gummies, or set any age requirements for
consumption. They also didn’t at all address other THC derivatives from
hemp, such as delta-8 and delta-10.

Vape shops sprung up statewide to sell the unregulated products. But it was
the realization that infused drinks were available at gas stations that
really got legislators’ attention.

A bipartisan proposal to ban sales to anyone under 21 passed the House
nearly unanimously last April, a month before session’s end. Senators
didn’t take it up, though they could this year.

Legislators from both parties said Wednesday that it’s past time to close
sales to minors. But they disagreed on where to draw the line for adults.

Rep. John McCravy was among two GOP legislators who voted against keeping
infused beverages legal. He said he doesn’t want to see any legal THC in
South Carolina.

“We already have a DUI problem in our state,” said the Greenwood
Republican. “To hand this into the mix, on top of the alcohol, it’s just
going to make things worse.”

The other “no” vote on that bill came from Horry County Republican Jeff
Johnson.

South Carolina led the nation in having the highest drunken driving
fatality rate, according to a 2024 report from the state chapter of Mothers
Against Drunk Driving.

Senators are debating legislation that could establish a process for law
enforcement to test if a driver is high on THC. No system for testing a
driver who’s just been pulled over exists.

The total ban faced more opposition Wednesday, with five Democrats voting
against it.

Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, said the state should protect minors
without “trampling all over the freedoms” of adults.

Both bills would keep non-psychoactive products with only cannabidiol, or
CBD, legal. Unlike THC, CBD doesn’t impair a user, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, and is often used in oils or lotions
for pain relief.
Advocates make their case

Later Wednesday, representatives of the hemp products industry held a
reception for legislators at a restaurant a few blocks from the Statehouse
to advocate for regulations that protect businesses and customers—not a ban.

About 40 people attended the reception. At least four legislators spoke
against a ban. They included the Statehouse’s newest legislator,
Summerville Republican Greg Ford, who narrowly won a special election
earlier this month.

Another Republican to speak was Sen. Wes Climer of Rock Hill, who’s
running to be the next congressman representing the 5th District. Comparing
hemp to the crypto industry, he said the Legislature shouldn’t ban things
just because they’re new or unfamiliar.

Business owners there to make their case included Jody and Brian Luke of
Charlotte, who run PureRemedies CBD, which sells hemp-derived THC and CBD
products in one store in Charlotte and another just south of the border in
Fort Mill.

Jody Luke said she believes both bills that advanced Wednesday would
“devastate” the hemp industry and drive people like her out of business. It
wouldn’t be profitable to sell just CBD products or just one kind of
low-dose beverage, she said, adding that the vast majority of her revenue
comes from THC products.

She uses the products to treat a degenerative disc disease and anxiety, she
said, and they’ve helped her quit antidepressants and back pain medication.

“People have found true relief,” she said of the products.

Luke blamed “bad actors” for giving businesses like hers a bad reputation.
She only sells the products to adults over 21, and stickers on her stores’
doors make that clear. Employees scan a buyer’s ID before selling to them.
She said they also test their products before selling them — as the bill
allowing some hemp beverages would require.

The 2018 federal Farm Bill that legalized hemp was designed to let farmers
grow it for things like rope or clothing.

A last-minute addition to the stopgap spending law that ended the federal
government shutdown last November is designed to close the loophole that
created the gray area. It bans the sale of any hemp product with more than
0.4 milligrams of THC, starting this November.

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. House earlier this month
would delay implementation by two years. A separate bill filed last week by
a Virginia Republican and a Texas Democrat would instead create a
nationwide regulatory framework for hemp products.

South Carolina law enforcement recently began cracking down on the sale of
hemp products with illegally high amounts of THC. Proving they’re illegal
requires testing the products, a time-consuming process that helps explain
why stores have largely been left alone.

In December, Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) announced 12 arrests and the
seizure of more than 30,000 pounds of marijuana joints, edibles and various
other THC products in a joint drug trafficking investigation dubbed
“Ganjapreneur.”

*This story was first published by South Carolina Daily Gazette.*

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One To Allow THC Drinks appeared first on Marijuana Moment.