South Carolina S 53: Compassionate Care Act

Bill Text

South Carolina General Assembly

126th Session, 2025-2026



S. 53



STATUS INFORMATION



General Bill

Sponsors: Senators Davis, Goldfinch and Sutton

Document Path: LC-0046VR25.docx



Introduced in the Senate on January 14, 2025

Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Medical Affairs



Summary: Compassionate Care Act





HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS



	Date	Body	Action Description with journal page number	

	12/11/2024	Senate	Prefiled
 

	12/11/2024	Senate	Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs (Senate Journal‑page 50)

	1/14/2025	Senate	Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal‑page 50)

	1/14/2025	Senate	Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs



View the latest  legislative information  at the website





VERSIONS OF THIS BILL



12/11/2024

12/11/2024-A

























A bill



TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE “SOUTH CAROLINA COMPASSIONATE CARE ACT” BY ADDING ARTICLE 20 TO CHAPTER 53, TITLE 44 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE SALE OF CANNABIS PRODUCTS FOR THERAPEUTIC USE AND THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A SALE CAN OCCUR; BY ADDING SECTION 56‑5‑3910 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL FOR A DRIVER OF A MOTOR VEHICLE TO VAPORIZE CANNABIS PRODUCTS AS DEFINED IN SECTION 44‑53‑2010 WHILE OPERATING THE MOTOR VEHICLE AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES; BY AMENDING SECTIONS 44‑53‑1810, 44‑53‑1820, AND 44-53-1830, ALL RELATING TO “JULIAN’S LAW,” SO AS TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES; BY REPEALING ARTICLE 4 OF CHAPTER 53, TITLE 44 RELATING TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES THERAPEUTIC RESEARCH; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.



Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:



SECTION 1.	This act may be cited as the “South Carolina Compassionate Care Act.”



SECTION 2.	The General Assembly finds that:

	(1) as of January 1, 2023, thirty‑seven states and the District of Columbia have removed state level criminal penalties from the medical use, cultivation, and distribution of cannabis, and South Carolina now joins in this effort for the health and welfare of its citizens;

	(2) the United States Congress has signaled support for allowing states to set their own medical cannabis policies by approving budgets that include a proviso that restricts the Department of Justice from using any appropriated funds to interfere with the implementation of those laws;

	(3) on January 12, 2017, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a report presenting nearly one hundred conclusions related to the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoid use. Among other things, this report concluded that there is evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective for the treatment of several medical conditions and symptoms, including chronic pain, chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, and the improvement of multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms;

	(4) clinical studies continue to show the therapeutic value of cannabis in treating a wide array of debilitating medical conditions, including relief of neuropathic pain that often fails to respond to conventional treatments, reduced reliance on opiate based painkillers, and symptoms of autism; and

	(5) cannabis has many accepted medical uses in the United States, having been recommended by thousands of licensed physicians to more than four million patients in the states that have medical cannabis laws, and a wide range of medical and public health organizations have recognized the medical utility of cannabis, including the American Academy of HIV Medicine, the American College of Physicians, the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the U.S. Pain Foundation, and the Epilepsy Foundation.



SECTION 3.	Nothing in this act shall be construed or interpreted as an effort by the South Carolina General Assembly to legalize cannabis for any reason except for therapeutic benefit to patients, upon the certification and with the supervision of a physician, under the circumstances and subject to the guidelines contained herein.



SECTION 4.	Chapter 53, Title 44 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:



Article 20



South Carolina Compassionate Care Act



	Section 44‑53‑2010.	As used in this article:

	(1)(a) “Allowable amount of medical cannabis” or “allowable amount of cannabis products” means, for a fourteen‑day period:

			(i) cannabis products for topical administration including, but not limited to, patches for transdermal administration or lotions, creams, or ointments, that contain a total of no more than four thousand milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol;

			(ii) cannabis products for oral administration including, but not limited to, oils, tinctures, capsules, or edible forms, that contain a total of no more than one thousand six hundred milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol;

			(iii) cannabis products that consist of oils for vaporization that contain a total of no more than eight thousand two hundred milligrams of