SC Attorney General says Marijuana is “the most dangerous drug”

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Medical Cannabis is up for discussion once again at the Statehouse. Last year the Compassionate Care Act bill passed through committees but ran out of time before being brought to the floor in both chambers.  Now, it is coming back in both House and Senate committees, but there are still many parties against the bill– including attorney General Alan Wilson.

Supporters of the bill were fairly upset with the claims Attorney General Alan Wilson was making. Senator Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, said there were too many absurd statements to even keep track of.  

“I heard a lot of really strange things, but one thing that occurring to me is that nobody that spoke today, has bothered to read the bill that I have drafted,” Davis said. Davis filled the bill in the Senate. He says if any of the speakers actually picked up the bill, they would know that it would be “one of the most conservative, tightly-regulated medicinal bills.”   

“I mean who in the world can stand up there while we have an opioid epidemic, crack cocaine, methamphetamines, and you can you say cannabis- which is going to authorized by use from doctors to patients, is the most dangerous drug in America? That’s just simply divorce from reality,” Davis said.

Alan Wilson said marijuana is the most dangerous drug because it is the most misunderstood drug.

Members of the South Carolina Medical Association, SLED, and South Carolina Sheriff’s Association stood at the podium with Attorney General Wilson. They say they worry about the “negative impacts cannabis can have on mental health, employment, and overall life satisfaction.”

“Two ounces of marijuana as you just heard is over 100 cigarette sized joints. Do we just recommend that you use it until you feel better?” March E. Seabrook, MD said. 

“We absolutely know that cannabis is addictive. Second only to alcohol use-disorder,” Sara Goldsby said, director of DAODAS.

USC’s Vice President of Research said the bill could help South Carolina be among the best in research and clinical trials for conditions like Crohn’s disease, MS, cancer, Parkinson’s disease and PTSD.

“We should be helping patients who are really suffering where there is no other alternative for them,” Dr. Parkash Nagarkatti, Ph. D. said. 

Senator Davis, a Republican, referenced a poll that shows that more than 70% of South Carolinians support marijuana for medical purposes.

The bill on the table in the House has support from both parties, the bill in the senate was cosponsored by all Democrats.