Legalizing Medical Marijuana On Deck In 2016

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SOUTH CAROLINA:  Because she has seizures every day and slams into the ground, 18-year-old Dixie Pace has worn a helmet since November.

Pace uses cannabidiol oil, an oil derived from marijuana that was legalized in South Carolina last year for certain forms of epilepsy, to reduce her seizures from 50 down to an average of less than 10 a day.

“That’s just one oil,” Pace’s mother, April Pace, said Wednesday during a State House rally, urging the Legislature to legalize medical marijuana. April Pace says access to a different oil extracted from marijuana, or the plant itself, could control further — or possibly stop — Dixie Pace’s seizures.

Earlier Wednesday, April Pace testified to a panel of state senators considering a bill to allow the use of marijuana to treat certain medical conditions.

 

First-Ever Greenville Medical Marijuana Rally This Weekend

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SOUTH CAROLINA:  Greenville will make history this weekend.

For the first time, downtown will take part in March on Marijuana Day, a rally in support of the medical use of cannabis.

It will take place Saturday, May 2 at One City Plaza.

 

South Carolina Representative Proposes New Bill For Marijuana

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SOUTH CAROLINA:  State representative Mike Pitts is a retired Greenville police officer … So a bill he just prefiled might surprise some people.

It would decriminalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. 

It would not legalize it … But instead of a -criminal- offense … It would be a civil case with a fine … Instead of possible jail time. 

“As a law enforcement officer, the biggest thing that I see is a person can be arrested for a small amount, a half-a-joint, for instance. Criminal record stays there forever unless they have it expunged.” 

Bill Would Legalize Industrial Hemp In South Carolina

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SOUTH CAROLINA:  A bill making its way through the South Carolina Statehouse would legalize growing industrial hemp in the state. Hemp is the same species of plant as marijuana, so it was outlawed when marijuana was.

But botanist Dr. John Nelson at the University of South Carolina Herbarium says, “There’s definitely a genetic difference between the industrial fiber source and what people are growing for the drug use, whether it’s legal or illegal. The thing is, it’s the same species but there can be some pretty profound genetic differences.”

Hemp contains only small amounts of THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the mind-altering chemical found in marijuana. Dr. Nelson says, “If there was a field of this industrial hemp plant, you can’t really get high from smoking that anyway, just because there’s not much of the compound within the foliage.”