Deal keeps hemp THC gummies, drinks in SC. But where can you buy them?
COLUMBIA, S.C.
The South Carolina Senate decided to regulate the burgeoning hemp-derived THC industry Thursday afternoon, picking and choosing where the drinks and gummies could be sold.
The plan would allow gummies and drinks with low-doses of high-inducing THC to be legally sold in the state. However, gummies and some higher-dose drinks could only be purchased in liquor stores, while canned beverages with 0 to 5 milligrams of THC could be sold behind a counter at gas stations or grocery stores with proper licenses.
Which stores and restaurants could sell THC drinks was a sticking point in debate Thursday, state Sen. Michael Johnson, R-York, told reporters. But the deal satisfied a majority on both sides of the aisle enough to pass the bill 35-4 around 5 p.m. Thursday after hours of closed door debates.
“After having the night and thinking about it a little bit, we made little tweaks to that in order to make sure that we had the votes to keep this out of the hands of children,” Johnson told reporters Thursday afternoon. The plan to regulate THC edibles had earlier failed just after midnight.
“I mean, that’s the number one thing. We want to regulate this product and make sure that those who shouldn’t be around it aren’t,” said Johnson, who steered the bill through the state Senate.
The bill allows only low-dose drinks and gummies, creates packaging and testing requirements, prohibits synthetic cannabis products and restricts THC products to adults 21 and over. Only drinks with 5 or less milligrams of THC could be sold in grocery stores and gas stations, and they must be kept behind the counter. Drinks and gummies with 5-10 milligrams of THC can be sold in liquor stores. Stores selling THC must have the proper alcohol licenses, in addition to a hemp license.
If passed into law, restaurants and bars would be unable to sell THC drinks. And driving with more than five or more nanograms per milliliter of THC in blood is prohibited.
State Sen. Ed Sutton, D-Charleston, voted against the bill Thursday afternoon. He wanted more stores, restaurants and bars to be able to sell the THC products.
“What we’re regulating is far beyond other things that we already have out there, productwise,” Sutton told reporters. “So I think there’s still this massive anti-marijuana fear from the 1950s that exists within this body, which is unfortunate.”
Democratic senators Sutton and Margie Bright Matthews, D-Colleton, voted against the bill. Sens. Billy Garrett, R-Greenwood, and Lee Bright, R-Spartanburg, also voted no Thursday afternoon. Both Republican senators had wanted the products totally banned.
Marijuana is still illegal in South Carolina. The federal government legalized hemp, which contains smaller amounts of THC, in the 2018 Farm Bill. In the last several years, businesses around the country, including South Carolina, have produced edibles like drinks and gummies with enough hemp-derived THC to give consumers a high.
Many Republican senators wanted to ban THC edibles completely last week, but that failed. Senators opted to try and regulate it, since children can legally purchase THC drinks that haven’t been safety tested in South Carolina right now.
The Senate’s vote to regulate hemp-derived THC drinks, rather than ban them, bucks the advice of Republican groups, including the state GOP and the SC Federation of Republican Women.
“We’re mothers, we’re grandmothers, we’re sisters and daughters, and we just don’t want that for our families,” said Debbie Baker, the president of the SC Federation of Republican Women.
The bill still needs a perfunctory final reading in the state Senate. Then, it will head over to the House, which had its own disagreements over how to best regulate THC this year.
Johnson said he hopes the House passes the bill with little changes, particularly without loosening rules around THC consumables.
“I’d hate to see any expansion,” Johnson said. “I think we want to try to keep this bill as narrowly scoped and restrictive as possible.”