COLUMBIA — Debate on legalizing medical marijuana in South Carolina will start on the Senate floor this week, representing a Statehouse first in an eight-year effort.
It’s a vote Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, has been fighting for since launching the effort in 2015.
“If you pound at the door long enough. If you make your case. If the public is asking for something, the state Senate owes a debate,” Davis told The Post and Courier, who wants an up or down vote. “The people of South Carolina deserve to know where their elected officials stand on this issue.”
Senators decided unanimously Jan. 20 to put the controversial proposal on priority status, guaranteeing a vote in the chamber. Senators can’t move on to other legislation until they either approve or kill the bill dubbed the “Compassionate Care Act,” which would enable patients to legally use cannabis.
Last year actually marked the second time the Senate Medical Affairs Committee advanced his bill to the Senate floor. But after getting through the committee process in 2018, opposition blocked a floor debate from ever happening. The 2021 session closed last May with GOP leadership promising Davis he’d get a vote this year.
Davis has spearheaded the effort to allow South Carolinians to use marijuana as medicine since 2014, when legislators passed his bill allowing limited use…
COLUMBIA — Debate on legalizing medical marijuana in South Carolina will start on the Senate floor this week, representing a Statehouse first in an eight-year effort.
It’s a vote Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, has been fighting for since launching the effort in 2015.
“If you pound at the door long enough. If you make your case. If the public is asking for something, the state Senate owes a debate,” Davis told The Post and Courier, who wants an up or down vote. “The people of South Carolina deserve to know where their elected officials stand on this issue.”
Senators decided unanimously Jan. 20 to put the controversial proposal on priority status, guaranteeing a vote in the chamber. Senators can’t move on to other legislation until they either approve or kill the bill dubbed the “Compassionate Care Act,” which would enable patients to legally use cannabis.
Last year actually marked the second time the Senate Medical Affairs Committee advanced his bill to the Senate floor. But after getting through the committee process in 2018, opposition blocked a floor debate from ever happening. The 2021 session closed last May with GOP leadership promising Davis he’d get a vote this year.
Davis has spearheaded the effort to allow South Carolinians to use marijuana as medicine since 2014, when legislators passed his bill allowing limited use…
