President Donald Trump said Friday that he's inclined to support a bipartisan effort in Congress to ease the U.S. ban on marijuana, a proposal that would dramatically reshape the nation's legal landscape for pot users and businesses. The federal ban that puts marijuana on the same level as LSD and heroin has created a conflict with more than two dozen states that have legalized pot in some form, creating a two-tiered enforcement system where cannabis can be both legal and not. [continues 362 words]
The number of hemp farmers in SC is growing fast. How high will it get? Less than a year into the program, the number of farmers growing hemp in South Carolina could double. That's because the South Carolina Department of Agriculture is making more permits available for farmers looking to participate in the Industrial Hemp Pilot Program. The SCDA will select up to 40 farmers to receive permits to grow industrial hemp. That's twice the amount of the 20 farmers chosen in the inaugural year of the program. [continues 501 words]
It's already used to treat epilepsy in some children -- and now researchers are examining whether a marijuana compound could also be helpful for those with autism. The University of California San Diego announced in a news release that it will be conducting a test on children with "severe" autism to see if cannabidiol, commonly referred to as CBD, can help treat some of their symptoms. The research, which will involve 30 children, was made possible thanks to a $4.7 million donation from the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation in Lindon, Utah, according to The San Diego Tribune. The goal is to see if CBD can lessen seizures, anxiety and self-harming. [continues 622 words]
As a family medicine and public-health physician practicing in South Carolina for the past 40 years, I see the proposed system for making marijuana available for evidence-based medical treatments as severely flawed. S.212 provides for a wholly unnecessary system of marijuana cultivation centers, processing sites and dispensaries. The Federal Drug Administration is already working with the federal Drug Enforcement Authority to increase legitimate research on marijuana products for medical use, and the DEA has a well-established system to handle prescription narcotics. [continues 332 words]
Former U.S. attorney for South Carolina Bill Nettles is calling for a public referendum on medical marijuana. Nettles heads Palmetto Medical Cannabis LLC, a group advocating for the legalization of medical cannabis in South Carolina. "I think it is important that our state Democratic and Republican parties allow primary voters to be heard on the important issue of legalization of medical marijuana for seriously ill patients in our state," he said. Nettles cited polling data showing 78 percent of South Carolinians support the legalized use of marijuana. [continues 70 words]
Medical marijuana cleared a key committee on Thursday and headed to the floor of the S.C. Senate. But the 8-6 vote by the Senate Medical Affairs Committee came as enforcement leaders are hardening their opposition, saying it is another step toward legalized recreational marijuana in the Palmetto State. "That's what we've seen in every state," State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel told The State after the committee vote. "There's not a state that hasn't (gone) in steps. And we've seen our state go through the same steps. From CDB oil to hemp to medical marijuana to recreational marijuana. And that's what we've seen in every state . So I have no reason to think its going to be any different in ours." [continues 699 words]
When Mack Hudson of Lexington was 16 years old, he was paralyzed when he fractured his skull, broke his neck and shattered a key vertebrae in a car wreck. Over the past 10 years, he's been prescribed increasing doses of opioids -- Percocet and Roxycodone to alleviate the pain. "It messes with my head," he said. "I can't think straight. I can't function straight. I'm just not myself." So Hudson traveled to California and Colorado to experiment with marijuana. [continues 905 words]
An S.C. Senate panel quickly killed a proposal Tuesday that would have created a study committee to research the effects of cannabidiol oil - -- an active ingredient found in marijuana -- on prison inmates with physical and mental illnesses. The oil -- used sometimes in place of prescription drugs -- can be an effective treatment for people who suffer from epilepsy, schizophrenia and seizures, supporters say. Originally suggested as a pilot program by state Rep. Mike Pitts, S.C. House budget writers adopted the proviso -- or one-year rule -- as part of the House's 2018-'19 budget proposal in March. [continues 174 words]
South Carolina could allow prison inmates with physical or mental-health issues to be treated with cannabidiol oil, an active ingredient found in marijuana plants. The S.C. House budget-writing committee OK'd an amendment Tuesday that would authorize the S.C. Department of Corrections to start a pilot program to study the effects of cannabidiol oil use on inmates. South Carolina already has a law -- Julian's Law -- that allows patients with certain forms of epilepsy to use cannabidiol oil. [continues 176 words]
Now that marijuana is legal in California, people don't have to hide their marijuana use -- in fact, some are smoking it right in officers' faces. But these pot smokers aren't being brazen. They're actually helping police better detect impaired drivers on the road, CBS Los Angeles reported. Glendale police Officer Bryan Duncan told the news station that about 75 percent of the DUI arrests he makes these days are drug impaired -- "more cannabis than alcohol." A group of smokers recently gathered at a hotel where they were first given field sobriety tests, and then allowed to start smoking marijuana, Inside Edition reported. They later took sobriety tests for a second time to judge how the drug affected their mental and motor skill, the news outlet said. [continues 349 words]
A man and woman were charged with child neglect after an infant girl tested positive for marijuana, according to media reports. Daniel Chambers, 42, and Ashley Willard, 24, both of Union County, were charged Tuesday with unlawful neglect of a child, according to FOX Carolina in Greenville. Willard tested positive for marijuana on Jan. 13, wspa.com reports. Union County deputies say that prompted the S.C. Department of Social Services to test a hair sample from the child the same day, according to goupstate.com. Deputies were notified on Jan. 31, that the baby tested positive for marijuana, according to WSPA. Willard and Chambers were released from jail Tuesday on $5,000 bond each, according to Union County court records. [end]
5th-graders thought they ate ordinary gummies. But then the room started spinning. One student passed out. Another fifth-grader said she couldn't see. A third started to feel extremely dizzy. "I felt like the room was going to flip to the side," a 9-year-old student at Albuquerque School of Excellence in New Mexico told KRQE. It didn't take the 8- and 9-year-olds -- or the principal of the school, for that matter -- long to figure out why the students were reeling last [continues 331 words]
President Barack Obama on Thursday commuted the 20-year prison sentenced imposed on Richard Ruiz Montes, convicted in 2008 for his role in the Modesto's pot-dealing California Healthcare Collective. In one of his final presidential acts, Obama used his executive authority to cut Montes' sentence by more than half. Now held at a federal facility in Atwater, according to the Bureau of Prisons' inmate locator, the 36-year-old Montes will be released May 19. He is identified as Richard by the White House and Bureau of Prisons, but has also been known as Ricardo. The White House listed his hometown as Escalon. [continues 184 words]
A Pew Research Center survey of nearly 8,000 police officers finds that more than two-thirds of them say that marijuana use should be legal for either personal or medical use. The nationally representative survey of law enforcement, one of the largest of its kind, found that 32 percent of police officers said marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use, while 37 percent said it should be legal for medical use only. Another 30 percent said that marijuana should not be legal at all. [continues 424 words]
S.C. legislators are gearing up for another fight over a bill that would allow the legal use of medical marijuana in the Palmetto State. A half-dozen lawmakers Tuesday made their first order of business on the session's opening day the unveiling of the S.C. Compassionate Care Act. The bill would allow South Carolinians with "debilitating medical conditions" to use medical pot, when approved by a doctor. Last year, bipartisan efforts to legalize medical marijuana died in House and Senate committees. That effort was opposed by law enforcement officials, who said they feared that legalizing medical marijuana would lead to more pot being available in the state for non-medical uses. [continues 305 words]
Mary Louise received her first dose of CBD oil Saturday, about four months after the bill allowing children to receive the oil extracted from marijuana was signed into law. The oil helps children like Mary Louise with severe epilepsy control their seizures. It took only a simple phrase to see how Mary Louise Swing's life would improve from cannabidiol. On vacation with family in Myrtle Beach last weekend, Mary Louise stunned her mother, Jill, and a roomful of relatives with a simple "Hi everybody" as she got out of bed. [continues 685 words]
Two young parents died of apparent drug overdoses in a Pennsylvania home about a week ago. Left alone in her bassinet, the couple's infant died three or four days later. Authorities said 5-month-old Summer Chambers died of dehydration and starvation, the Associated Press reported. She and her parents, Jason Chambers, 27, and Chelsea Cardaro, 19, were all found dead Thursday in a home in the Kernville neighborhood of Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh. Officials with the Johnstown Police Department were unavailable for comment Saturday. [continues 376 words]
Columbia, SC - It is good news that legislators are considering a law to allow doctor-prescribed use of marijuana. More than 20 states that have approved its use for nausea. The primary reason, as I understand it, is that most pain medication has after-effects of severe nausea. I am prescribed several medications to eliminate the pain I experience due to neuropathy; however, they cause extreme nausea. I certainly would appreciate being able to use medical marijuana to relieve severe nausea, as I am sure many others would be. I believe that legislators will find more and more states approving marijuana for the treatment of nausea. Ronald B. Bolton Aiken [end]
KANSAS CITY, MO. - An attorney for Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe filed a motion Friday to suppress evidence related to Bowe's arrest in November for allegedly speeding and possessing more than 10 grams of marijuana. Bowe was pulled over during a traffic stop on Nov. 10 in Riverside. The motion contends the search of his vehicle and person was conducted without a valid warrant, without probable cause and in an unreasonable manner. It also contends Bowe's statements were obtained without police reading him Miranda rights. [continues 687 words]
Legislative action is needed in the fight against synthetic drugs. As soon as a substance is controlled, someone changes the compounds to make it legal again. The news is filled with frightening tales about the problem caused by bath salts, spice and other synthetic drug threats. Last year I introduced legislation to combat this threat, H.3793. There are 65 co-sponsors to my bill, which enjoys bipartisan support in the House. Working with my fellow lawmakers and law enforcement, an important amendment has been crafted to keep our laws light years ahead of the criminals. This amendment, which will be before the House Judiciary Committee today, is a crucial step in making sure law enforcement has the tools it needs to combat the synthetic drug threat. [continues 58 words]
