Trump’s Marijuana Rescheduling Move Could Boost South Carolina Medical Cannabis Bill, GOP Lawmaker Says

If the Department of Justice finishes the process of rescheduling marijuana
as recently directed by President Donald Trump, the federal change could
boost efforts to legalize medical cannabis at the state level in South
Carolina, according to a GOP lawmaker.

“I do think that there is going to be a change in mentality among some of
those who have opposed this in the past,” Sen. Tom Davis (R) said in an
interview with WSAV-TV that was published on Thursday.

“We’ve always had some legislators that were still concerned by the fact
that it was characterized by the federal government as a Schedule I drug.
Along with heroin and things of that nature, as a drug for which there is
no medicinal use whatsoever,” he said. “I mean, that’s clearly not the
case. That’s clearly false. Even the American Medical Association
recognizes that now.”

Davis for years has sponsored legislation to legalize medical marijuana in
South Carolina that has in some sessions passed the Senate but continually
stalled in the House of Representatives.

The Republican lawmaker said he would be willing to include a provision in
his legislation this session to make it so it wouldn’t take effect until
federal rescheduling is completed.

“Doctors want to authorize patients who want to use cannabis for certain
conditions,” Davis said. “They don’t want to use opioids, they don’t want
to use drugs that have that much greater side effects and much greater
health risks.”

The senator described his legislation as “extremely conservative.”

“It requires a doctor to diagnose and a doctor to authorize the use of the
cannabis,” he said. “Very strict controls in regard to how the manufacturer
of a marijuana medicine is done, the labeling requirements so that people
know what they’re getting, and a requirement that it be dispensed to
patients by pharmacists.”

“We’ve got a very good state mechanism set up where doctors diagnose,
doctors authorize the use. Certain medical conditions have to be
documented, and pharmacies have to dispense it. We’ve got a very detailed
system of tracking the cannabis as it goes through the manufacturing
process, a very good system in place.”

Davis believes his legislation provides a model for other states to follow.

“I’m about empowering doctors, empowering patients in a way that is
respectful of public safety, mindful of public safety, proper labeling,” he
said. “Something that South Carolina can be proud of, and that other states
that want to legalize it solely for medical use can look at this law as a
template.”

Gov. Henry McMaster (R) said last year that there’s a “compelling” case to
be made for legalizing medical marijuana in South Carolina, despite the
fact that “law enforcement, almost end-to-end, still have grave concerns.”

Davis’s pending bill for the 2025-2o26 session, as introduced, would allow
patients to access medical marijuana from “therapeutic cannabis pharmacies,”
which would be licensed by the state Board of Pharmacy. Individuals would
need to receive a doctor’s recommendation for the treatment of certain
qualifying conditions, which include several specific ailments as well as
terminal illnesses and chronic diseases where opioids are the standard of
care.

Among the public, medical marijuana legalization enjoys overwhelming
bipartisan support in the state, with a poll last year finding that 93
percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Republicans and 84 percent of
independents back the reform.


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Certain lawmakers have raised concerns that medical cannabis legalization
would lead to broader reform to allow adult-use marijuana, that it could
put pharmacists with roles in dispensing cannabis in jeopardy and that
federal law could preempt the state’s program, among other worries.

After Davis’s Senate-passed medical cannabis bill was blocked in the House
in 2022, he tried another avenue for the reform proposal, but that
similarly failed on procedural grounds.

The lawmaker has called the stance of his own party, particularly as it
concerns medical marijuana, “an intellectually lazy position that doesn’t
even try to present medical facts as they currently exist.”

The post Trump’s Marijuana Rescheduling Move Could Boost South Carolina
Medical Cannabis Bill, GOP Lawmaker Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment.