© 2024 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Medical marijuana subject of lengthy debate in SC Senate

Tom-Davis_Medical Marijuana_South Carolina
Jeffrey Collins/AP
/
AP
South Carolina Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, begins a debate on legalizing medical marijuana in the state on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. Davis has been fighting for a floor debate on his proposal for seven years. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Next week the South Carolina State Senate is scheduled to begin its' third week of debate on a bill to allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for the treatment of an array of debilitating diseases such as epilepsy. PTSD, and glaucoma. Thirty seven states 37 states have legalized the use of cannabis for medical patients.

Law enforcement, religious groups and some doctors are opposed to the bill. Detractors say they fear allowing doctors to prescribe the use of cannabis in oil or pill form, but not smoking, could put the state on a slippery slope toward legalizing recreational marijuana. Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, the bill chief author says polling shows that more than seventy percent of South Carolina citizens favor such a law.

Russ McKinney has 30 years of experience in radio news and public affairs. He is a former broadcast news reporter in Spartanburg, Columbia and Atlanta. He served as Press Secretary to former S.C. Governor Dick Riley for two terms, and for 20 years was the chief public affairs officer for the University of South Carolina.