South Carolina Senate Approves Bill To Keep Hemp THC Drinks And Gummies Legal, With Some Restrictions

*Compromise was needed “to make sure that we had the votes to keep this out
of the hands of children… That’s the number one thing.”*

*By Adrian Ashford, South Carolina Daily Gazette*

Legislation limiting South Carolina sales of intoxicating hemp products to
adults over 21 passed the Senate on Thursday in a compromise that took two
weeks and a do-over vote to revive the bill following a past-midnight
rejection.

Beyond limiting most sales to liquor stores, the amended bill restricts
what’s legal to beverages and gummies with no more than 10 milligrams of
THC per serving.

The 35-4 vote on Thursday came almost 17 hours after the effort seemed to
blow up completely.

Proposals on how to rein in sales of drinks and edibles infused with
hemp-derived THC—effectively legalized by the 2018 federal Farm Bill—have
divided the GOP in both chambers over the past two legislative sessions. In
a state where marijuana remains illegal, legislators have generally agreed
they want to keep the products that provide an alternative high out of
children’s hands. But they’ve been at odds over what should be legal for
adults to buy.

Earlier this year, a chaotic divide among Republicans on the House
floor resulted in a different bill banning most hemp products getting sent
back to the committee that advanced it. That bill has yet to resurface.

Senators thought they’d found a compromise Wednesday, their fifth day of
floor debate, with amendments that make it illegal to drive after consuming
THC and allow sales of one type of edible to adults—what the bill calls a
“hemp gelatin chewable.”

But a 10-hour debate ended after midnight with a 15-25 “no” vote on the
bill, as Republicans who wanted a complete ban on all THC products joined
with Democrats, and a few Republicans, who advocated for regulations that
clarified rules without threatening a growing industry.

Afterward, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R) told reporters he
expected votes to flip the next day. And they did.

Senators realized killing the bill meant a wide array of THC-infused
products stayed on shelves available for people of all ages to buy. “There
are a lot of people who voted ‘no,’ who do not like the effect of voting
‘no,’” Massey said.

Senators spent most of Thursday in huddles before agreeing to undo that
“no” vote and adopting an amendment that allowed some sales outside a
liquor store. The change allows 12-ounce beverages with up to 5 milligrams
of THC to be sold in retail stores, whether gas stations, grocery stores or
vape shops. However, the cans or bottles must remain behind the counter.
They can’t be displayed anywhere else in the store.

A bipartisan effort to additionally allow restaurants to keep the beverages
on the menu, selling them as they do alcohol, failed.

In the end, the opposition was evenly divided, with two Republicans and two
Democrats voting against the bill.

Many Republicans who wanted an all-out ban said they begrudgingly accepted
the final compromise.

Sen. Michael Johnson (R), who shepherded the process, said he’s satisfied
with the outcome, even while recognizing that most senators weren’t
completely happy with it.

Compromise was needed “to make sure that we had the votes to keep this out
of the hands of children. I mean, that’s the number one thing,” said the
Tega Cay Republican.

The GOP-supermajority chamber ultimately bucked the state Republican Party,
which sent a flurry of emails in the last week bashing the proposal as
legalizing marijuana. Last Saturday, the party’s state executive committee
passed a resolution calling for a statewide ban on all “hemp-derived THC
products.”

“We’ve had an entire class of drugs come into our state via a legal
loophole,” state GOP Chairman Drew McKissick said in a release. The
committee “calls on our Republican members of the legislature to close that
loophole.”

The other side includes small business owners, who have been pleading with
legislators to protect their livelihood and customers by regulating, not
banning, sales.

Another vote in the Senate next week will return the amended bill to the
House. As it passed that chamber nearly unanimously last year, the
legislation more simply banned sales of hemp-derived THC products to anyone
under 21. If the House agrees with the Senate’s changes, the bill will head
to the governor’s desk.
What’s in the bill

As amended, the bill says only liquor stores can sell hemp beverages and
gummies containing up to 10 milligrams of THC per serving. That’s defined
as 10 milligrams per 12-ounce can or glass bottle, or up to 170 milligrams
in a 750-milliliter container (the size of a regular wine bottle). For a
hemp “chewable,” a serving is a single gummy.

Other stores, including the vape shops and CBD stores that have sprung up
statewide since 2018, could sell only 12-ounce THC beverages capped at 5
milligrams, which must stay behind the counter.

Selling to anyone under 21 would be punishable by up to two years in prison
and a $5,000 fine on first offense. Repeated violations could result in up
to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, and loss of all operating licenses.

On the other side of the sale, anyone under 21 who possesses, buys or
attempts to buy the products would face a penalty of up to 30 days in jail
and a $200 fine.

The bill doesn’t regulate or criminalize products with only cannabidiol, or
CBD, that aren’t psychoactive. 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.
Total ban fails

Senators who remained a steadfast “no” included Republican Billy Garrett of
Greenwood. His push for a complete ban came from personal tragedy, he told
senators.

Garrett shared that his son became addicted to marijuana then, after a
skiing accident, began using harder drugs, including opioids. He died of a
drug overdose.

“Had he not started marijuana, I’m convinced he would be with me today,”
Garrett told his colleagues. He highlighted that the South Carolina
Federation of Republican Women also advocated for a complete ban instead of
regulation.

Ultimately, the attempt at a complete ban failed 18-22 last week.

The 18 senators who voted for a full ban last week included Massey, who
told reporters he was worried about the products impairing drivers.

Under his amendment, which passed Wednesday, drivers can be arrested for
having 5 or more nanograms per milliliter in their blood. Drivers pulled
over by law enforcement on suspicion of impaired driving could be asked for
a blood sample. Refusal could result in a suspended license. If a blood
test finds an illegal amount of THC, the penalty for a first offense is up
to 30 days in jail and a $400 fine.
The federal backdrop

The Senate’s decision comes as the federal government is set to close the
loophole that federally legalized intoxicating hemp.

The 2018 bill passed by Congress that unintentionally created an industry
around hemp-derived THC was intended to give farmers the chance to grow
hemp for things like rope or clothing.

It specified that legal hemp products could contain a concentration of no
more than 0.3 percent of delta-9 THC “on a dry weight basis.” But vendors
found ways to stay under that weight ratio and still include dosages of THC
potent enough to get someone high.

A last-minute addition to the stopgap spending law that ended the federal
government shutdown last November is set to change that. If it goes into
effect as planned this November, legal hemp-derived products could contain
no more that 0.4 milligrams of THC per container.

If those limitations take effect, they would be even stricter than what’s
allowed in the Senate bill. But a provision in that bill says the state
would adopt those federal standards.

However, Johnson said he doesn’t expect the government to actually allow
the rules that essentially wipe out the industry to go through.

Unlike South Carolina legislators, he said, he expects the federal governor
to continue to “kick this can down the road.”

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

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