Compromise was needed “to make sure that we had the votes to keep this out of the hands of children… That’s the number one thing.”
By Adrian Ashford, South Carolina Daily Gazette
Legislation limiting South Carolina sales of intoxicating hemp products to adults over 21 passed the Senate on Thursday in a compromise that took two weeks and a do-over vote to revive the bill following a past-midnight rejection.
Beyond limiting most sales to liquor stores, the amended bill restricts what’s legal to beverages and gummies with no more than 10 milligrams of THC per serving.
The 35-4 vote on Thursday came almost 17 hours after the effort seemed to blow up completely.
Proposals on how to rein in sales of drinks and edibles infused with hemp-derived THC—effectively legalized by the 2018 federal Farm Bill—have divided the GOP in both chambers over the past two legislative sessions. In a state where marijuana remains illegal, legislators have generally agreed they want to keep the products that provide an alternative high out of children’s hands. But they’ve been at odds over what should be legal for adults to buy.
Earlier this year, a chaotic divide among Republicans on the House floor resulted in a different bill banning most hemp products getting sent back to the committee that advanced it. That bill has yet to resurface.
Senators thought they’d found a compromise Wednesday, their fifth day of floor debate, with amendments that make it illegal to drive after consuming THC and allow sales of one type of edible to adults—what the bill calls a “hemp gelatin chewable.”
But a 10-hour debate ended after midnight with a 15-25 “no” vote on the bill, as Republicans who wanted a complete ban on all THC products joined with Democrats, and a few Republicans, who advocated for regulations that clarified rules without threatening a growing industry.
Afterward, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R) told reporters he expected votes to flip the next day. And they did.
Senators realized killing the bill meant a wide array of THC-infused products stayed on shelves available for people of all ages to buy. “There are a lot of people who voted ‘no,’ who do not like the effect of voting ‘no,’” Massey said.
Senators spent most of Thursday in huddles before agreeing to undo that “no” vote and adopting an amendment that allowed some sales outside a liquor store. The change allows 12-ounce beverages with up to 5 milligrams of THC to be sold in retail stores, whether gas stations, grocery stores or vape shops. However, the cans or bottles must remain behind the counter. They can’t be displayed anywhere else in the store.
A bipartisan effort to additionally allow restaurants to keep the beverages on the menu, selling them as they do alcohol, failed.
In the end, the opposition was evenly divided, with two Republicans and two Democrats voting against the bill.
Many Republicans who wanted an all-out ban said they begrudgingly accepted the final compromise.
Sen. Michael Johnson (R), who shepherded the process, said he’s satisfied with the outcome, even while recognizing that most senators weren’t completely happy with it.
Compromise was needed “to make sure that we had the votes to keep this out of the hands of children. I mean, that’s the number one thing,” said the Tega Cay Republican.
The GOP-supermajority chamber ultimately bucked the state Republican Party, which sent a flurry of emails in the last week bashing the proposal as legalizing marijuana. Last Saturday, the party’s state executive committee passed a resolution calling for a statewide ban on all “hemp-derived THC products.”
“We’ve had an entire class of drugs come into our state via a legal loophole,” state GOP Chairman Drew McKissick said in a release. The committee “calls on our Republican members of the legislature to close that loophole.”
The other side includes small business owners, who have been pleading with legislators to protect their livelihood and customers by regulating, not banning, sales.
Another vote in the Senate next week will return the amended bill to the House. As it passed that chamber nearly unanimously last year, the legislation more simply banned sales of hemp-derived THC products to anyone under 21. If the House agrees with the Senate’s changes, the bill will head to the governor’s desk.
What’s in the bill
As amended, the bill says only liquor stores can sell hemp beverages and gummies containing up to 10 milligrams of THC per serving. That’s defined as 10 milligrams per 12-ounce can or glass bottle, or up to 170 milligrams in a 750-milliliter container (the size of a regular wine bottle). For a hemp “chewable,” a serving is a single gummy.
Other stores, including the vape shops and CBD stores that have sprung up statewide since 2018, could sell only 12-ounce THC beverages capped at 5 milligrams, which must stay behind the counter.
Selling to anyone under 21 would be punishable by up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine on first offense. Repeated violations could result in up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, and loss of all operating licenses.
On the other side of the sale, anyone under 21 who possesses, buys or attempts to buy the products would face a penalty of up to 30 days in jail and a $200 fine.
The bill doesn’t regulate or criminalize products with only cannabidiol, or CBD, that aren’t psychoactive. Unlike THC, CBD doesn’t impair a user, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is often used in oils or lotions for pain relief.
Total ban fails
Senators who remained a steadfast “no” included Republican Billy Garrett of Greenwood. His push for a complete ban came from personal tragedy, he told senators.
Garrett shared that his son became addicted to marijuana then, after a skiing accident, began using harder drugs, including opioids. He died of a drug overdose.
“Had he not started marijuana, I’m convinced he would be with me today,” Garrett told his colleagues. He highlighted that the South Carolina Federation of Republican Women also advocated for a complete ban instead of regulation.
Ultimately, the attempt at a complete ban failed 18-22 last week.
The 18 senators who voted for a full ban last week included Massey, who told reporters he was worried about the products impairing drivers.
Under his amendment, which passed Wednesday, drivers can be arrested for having 5 or more nanograms per milliliter in their blood. Drivers pulled over by law enforcement on suspicion of impaired driving could be asked for a blood sample. Refusal could result in a suspended license. If a blood test finds an illegal amount of THC, the penalty for a first offense is up to 30 days in jail and a $400 fine.
The federal backdrop
The Senate’s decision comes as the federal government is set to close the loophole that federally legalized intoxicating hemp.
The 2018 bill passed by Congress that unintentionally created an industry around hemp-derived THC was intended to give farmers the chance to grow hemp for things like rope or clothing.
It specified that legal hemp products could contain a concentration of no more than 0.3 percent of delta-9 THC “on a dry weight basis.” But vendors found ways to stay under that weight ratio and still include dosages of THC potent enough to get someone high.
A last-minute addition to the stopgap spending law that ended the federal government shutdown last November is set to change that. If it goes into effect as planned this November, legal hemp-derived products could contain no more that 0.4 milligrams of THC per container.
If those limitations take effect, they would be even stricter than what’s allowed in the Senate bill. But a provision in that bill says the state would adopt those federal standards.
However, Johnson said he doesn’t expect the government to actually allow the rules that essentially wipe out the industry to go through.
Unlike South Carolina legislators, he said, he expects the federal governor to continue to “kick this can down the road.”
This story was first published by South Carolina Daily Gazette.
