Guest Viewpoint: After 7 years, it’s time to choose medical cannabis in South Carolina

I began a marathon journey seven years ago to bring relief to thousands of suffering South Carolinians with debilitating ailments. These patients have tried everything under the sun to find relief, without success. They want the right to try medical cannabis, just as Americans in 37 other states can.

Hundreds of people have shared their stories with me. When you look into the eyes of someone desperate to find relief or potentially save the life of a loved one, it’s hard to explain that their elected officials will not grant them medical freedom. It’s critical that we take The South Carolina Compassionate Care Act across the finish line this year. Patients have waited long enough.

I have not done this alone. I am grateful for the time and energy that my colleagues in the South Carolina Senate and other stakeholders on both sides of the issue have devoted to crafting the most tightly regulated program in the nation. The South Carolina Compassionate Care Act reflects seven years of work, plus three weeks of intense vetting on the Senate floor to ensure the program can meet the needs of patients while addressing concerns.

With my support, the Senate approved numerous amendments — including amendments offered by senators who voted “no” — to tighten up the bill. Because S.L.E.D. (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) was adamantly opposed to allowing raw or smoked cannabis, we conceded and removed it, despite it being the most-effective method of delivery for many patients.

I urge my colleagues in the South Carolina House to listen to and have mercy on the thousands of our fellow citizens who suffer from terrible pain and other debilitating medical conditions every day, and to get this bill past the finish line.

The program would include a tightly controlled list of ailments and maintains the doctor’s role as a gatekeeper. Certifying physicians must complete medical cannabis-specific continuing education, and complete a comprehensive examination of the patient, including medical history, reviewing any family or personal history of mental health issues or substance abuse, and follow-up visits. It includes strict guidelines as to what forms of cannabis patients can use.

Unlike most other medical-cannabis states, cannabis would be dispensed from specialty, therapeutic cannabis pharmacies, licensed and overseen by the State Board of Pharmacy, and overseen by a pharmacist in charge. Pharmacists must be on-site to consult with and advise patients, including on dosage, possible side effects and potential interactions. Localities can limit, restrict or even ban the specialty pharmacies.

The Compassionate Care Act reflects my colleagues’ amendments to ensure medical cannabis products do not appeal to children in their shapes, flavors, packaging or labeling, and to require pharmacies to have discreet, medical appearances. It also includes third-party lab-testing of products to ensure safety and purity, as well as requiring labeling and warning about possible risks.

Some of my most conservative colleagues in the Senate voted for the bill specifically due to the many restrictions that were added, including a sunset clause, which would require the legislature to reauthorize the law in six years for it to continue.

But the Compassionate Care Act is much more than compromises and regulations — it’s about improving the quality of life for thousands of long-suffering South Carolinians.

From mothers tirelessly fighting for access to a life-saving medication to quell their children’s debilitating, and potentially fatal, seizures, to our veterans suffering from the physical and mental scars of combat, to our elderly population suffering from chronic and intractable pain who prefer a safer, more natural remedy for pain management rather than an opioid regimen — all of these folks deserve the medical freedom to make the decision, in consultation with medical professionals, to use medical cannabis.

In contrast to the good-faith amendments proposed in the Senate, it has been reported that one or more representatives plan to file hundreds of amendments with the sole intent of preventing a vote, rather than working to perfect the bill. This would be a disservice to the people of South Carolina, more than 70% of whom support medical cannabis.

Please, give suffering veterans and other patients the medical freedom to have the best quality of life and least pain possible, under a doctor’s care and with the counsel of a pharmacist.

Tom Davis, a Republican, represents Beaufort and Jasper counties in the South Carolina Senate.