S.584 would amend the SC Code regulating marijuana to create more flexibility for medical uses. Current law permits the use of cannabidiol (a non-psychoactive derivative of the cannabis plant) to treat forms of epilepsy. This bill would expand the provision for medical use of cannabidiol to any “non-treatable medical condition.” The definition for non-treatable medical condition includes a broad number of illnesses and conditions that are not sufficiently treated by traditional approaches, or any condition that is severely debilitating or terminal, as requested by a physician.
The bill also slightly changes the substance perimeters. Any substance for medical use made from a plant of the genus cannabis may not contain more than nine-tenths of one percent of tetrahydrocannabinol acid as well as tetrahydrocannabinol, and is no longer required to have more than fifteen percent of cannabidiol.
Medical professionals, not the state, should be the primary judges of appropriate medical treatment. This bill is a good move in that direction, giving medical professionals more flexibility, and giving patients more options.
Related (H.4550)