South Carolina H 3538: Harvest reporting

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3538 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3538

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH 
CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 44-53-160, RELATING TO PROCESSES FOR 
CHANGING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE SCHEDULES, SO AS TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF 
PHARMACY TO PERFORM FUNCTIONS TO QUICKLY IDENTIFY NEW SYNTHETIC CHEMICAL 
FORMULAS FOR SCHEDULING AND TO AUTHORIZE THE STATE BOARD OF PHARMACY TO ISSUE 
EMERGENCY RULES TO SCHEDULE SYNTHETIC CHEMICAL FORMULAS AS A CONTROLLED 
SUBSTANCE.

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

SECTION 1. Section 44-53-160 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 44-53-160. (A)(1) Annually, within thirty days 
after the convening of each regular session of the General Assembly, the 
department shall recommend to the General Assembly any additions, deletions, or 
revisions in the schedules of controlled substances enumerated in Sections 
44-53-190, 44-53-210, 44-53-230, 44-53-250, and 44-53-270 which the department 
deems necessary. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the department 
shall not make any additions, deletions, or revisions in the schedules until 
after notice and an opportunity for a hearing is afforded to all interested 
parties. In making a recommendation to the General Assembly regarding a 
substance, the department shall consider the following:

 (a) 
the actual or relative potential for abuse;

 (b) 
the scientific evidence of the substance's pharmacological effect, if known;

 (c) 
the state of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance;

 (d) 
the history and current pattern of abuse;

 (e) 
the scope, duration, and significance of abuse;

 (f) 
the risk to public health;

 (g) 
the potential of the substance to produce psychic or physiological dependence 
liability;

 (h) 
whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already 
controlled pursuant to this chapter; and

 (i) 
whether the substance has an accepted or recognized medical use.

 (2) 
After considering the factors listed in subsection (A)(1), the department shall 
make a recommendation to the General Assembly specifying to what schedule the 
substance should be added, deleted, or rescheduled, if the department finds 
that the substance has a potential for abuse.

 (B) 
Except as otherwise provided in this section, during the time the General 
Assembly is not in session, the department may add, delete, or reschedule a 
substance as a controlled substance after providing notice and a hearing to all 
interested parties. The addition, deletion, or rescheduling of a substance 
pursuant to this subsection has the full force of law unless overturned by the 
General Assembly. Upon the addition, deletion, or rescheduling of a substance, 
the department shall forward copies of the change to the Chairmen of the 
Medical Affairs Committee and the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, the 
Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee, and the Judiciary 
Committee of the House of Representatives, the Clerks of the Senate and House, 
and the Code Commissioner, and shall post the schedules on the department's 
website indicating the change and specifying the effective date of the change.

 (C)(1) At least every ninety days, and in 
consultation with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the State 
Board of Pharmacy shall provide a written report to the Governor, Attorney 
General, and the General Assembly outlining whether the board has identified 
any new chemical formulas that are used to make synthetic cannabinoids or 
cathinones not currently illegal under state law. To identify new chemical 
formulas, the board shall communicate routinely with SLED, the United States 
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the White House Office of National Drug 
Control Policy, the Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs, 
and other states' boards of pharmacy. If the board identifies any new chemical 
formulas, the board immediately shall propose an emergency rule to add the new 
chemicals to the current list of formulas listed in state law as a scheduled 
controlled substance and vote on the proposed rule as quickly as allowed 
pursuant to the board's notice and hearing requirements.

 (2) The State Board of Pharmacy, on 
its own initiative or under a written request from SLED, the DEA, or a poison 
control center, may adopt an emergency rule declaring a chemical formula to be 
a synthetic drug if the board finds that the chemical formula:

 (a) has been scheduled or emergency 
scheduled by the DEA;

 (b) has been scheduled, emergency 
scheduled, or criminalized by another state; or

 (c)(i) has a high potential for abuse; 
and

 (ii) has no accepted medical use