Bill To Regulate ‘Cannabis Consumables’ Filed In S.C. House

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South Carolina legislators are taking aim at regulating cannabis-consumable products. A broad coalition of House lawmakers have sponsored a bill aimed at restricting the sale of hemp-based foods and beverages.

While marijuana is illegal in South Carolina, a trip to the many of the state’s vape shops or convenience stores reveals a thriving cannabis product industry. Whether it be in the form of consumables, vapes or plant matter, cannabis products that get their users every bit as high as federally prohibited marijuana have become a booming industry.

The existence of this industry isn’t a failure of state law enforcement officials to enforce South Carolina’s prohibition of the sale of marijuana, but rather a product of the difficulty of regulating numerous psychoactive cannabinoids (a group of chemical compounds found primarily in the cannabis plant) which are not explicitly illegal.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) defines marijuana as a “mind-altering psychoactive drug, composed of the “flowers, stems, seeds and leaves from the cannabis sativa plant.”

The DEA’s marijuana fact-sheet notes that “THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main ingredient that produces the psychoactive effect.”

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While delta-9 THC is the main ingredient that gets marijuana users high, it is far from the only chemical compound found in cannabis plants with psychoactive effects, something drug-producers looking to skirt existing federal and state marijuana prohibitions have taken advantage of.

Legal frameworks centered around testing for delta-9 THC have encouraged growers and manufacturers to produce a bevy of products that deliver users a similar high without containing illegal levels of delta-9 THC.

The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill’s classification of cannabis products containing less than 0.3% delta-9 THC as legal hemp products further complicated matters.

“In the years following the 2018 Farm Bill, markets arose for intoxicating cannabis products that had less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC, and thus fit the federal definition of legal ‘hemp,’ but had other intoxicating cannabinoids,” An American Enterprise Institute (AEI) report on the issue noted.

“Since 2023,” the report claims, “retailers have begun to openly sell ordinary weed flower as legal hemp on the basis that the active ingredient is technically not delta-9 THC but delta-9 THCa—a precursor that converts to THC when the flower is ignited and smoked.”

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Legally, this ambiguous situation results in something AEI terms “chaos in U.S. cannabis markets,” which the organization believes will continue until the next federal farm bill clarifies the confusion.

“Consumers will likely continue to have access to ordinary recreational weed almost everywhere in the country,” the report notes.

AEI’s argument that consumers effectively have access to recreational marijuana nationwide is borne out in South Carolina, where this legal ambiguity has enabled the emergence of hundreds of vape shops, gas stations and head shops that sell marijuana-like substances.

The confusion in how police and prosecutors can address this industry was demonstrated in 2023, when Midlands law enforcement officials attempted to crack down on business selling these substances.

“Recently, the Columbia Police Department sent letters to more than thirty retailers in the city informing them that delta-8 THC is an illegal substance,” attorney Evan M. Gessner wrote in a 2023 advisory memo, noting that CPD “appears to be following the South Carolina Attorney General’s October 4, 2021 opinion that delta-8 is an illegal substance.”

According to the Attorney General opinion “substances with ‘a delta-9 THC concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis’ are specifically exempted.”

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In the eyes of the attorney general’s office, this specific legalization means the farm bill does not exempt other hemp derived cannabinoids from current state and federal marijuana prohibitions. Be that as it may, attorney general advisory opinions are not legally binding, and are issued purely to help government officials make informed decisions about matters that haven’t been definitively adjudicated in court.

Gressner wrote “the legality of delta-8 in South Carolina remains something of an open question,’ noting that “with more law enforcement agencies joining the position that delta-8 is illegal, there is the very real possibility that one or more of these law enforcement agencies will take action in the very near future, which may result in the seizure of products containing delta-8 and the filing of criminal charges.” 

Multiple lawmakers have indicated an interest in implementing state law to regulate this gray-area.

FITSNews spoke with state representative Chris Wooten, the sponsor of a bill which aims to regulate the sale of consumable cannabinoids similar to the state’s existing legal framework for the regulation for the sale of alcoholic beverages.

“Right now a sixteen-year-old can walk into a convenience store and buy a THC infused beverage that contains as much cannabinoids as four or five joints,” Wooten said.

His focus in crafting a bill was “not to let it get in the hands of kids legally.”

“We pulled a lot of the existing language from the state’s alcohol statutes,” Wooten said.

In defining a “hemp-derived consumable,” his legislation is much broader in it’s scope than federal bans of delta-9 THC.

Wooten’s bill – H. 3924 – categorizes fifteen different cannabinoids as potential psychoactive ingredients as potential intoxicants.

“It’s not a conclusive list,” Wooten said, adding the bill contains “a list of things that we know of those are intoxicating cannabinoids.”

“We’re trying to stop by the intoxication portion of this so folks who take CBD, or that want to relax and use it for their joints -this bill does not touch them,” he said.

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The bill mandates that “any person or entity who sells hemp-derived consumables must hold a valid off-premises beer and wine permit or a retail liquor store license,” and further mandates the products only be sold to and possessed by individuals twenty one years of age or older.

The legislation would also make straw-purchases and the use of fake ID’s illegal – as well as apply the state’s open-container legal framework to consumable-cannabinoids.

While Wooten’s primary concern in drafting the legislation is cannabis beverages, he acknowledged the law’s potential applicability to popular edible cannabis products.

“We’re after the bad actors here, and from most of the people I’ve spoken to I’ve heard that most edibles are sold at locations where you have to be 21 to purchase,” he said.

Wooten characterized his bill as a first attempt to address a far larger and more complex issue.

“Our goal is to get this bill out, get it to the floor and send it over to the Senate pretty quickly,” Wooten said. “There’s going to be a larger bill dropped that is going to deal with the licensing, regulating and taxing of cannabinoid products.”

Wooten, who formerly owned the Body Shop Gym in Lexington, S.C., said comprehensive legislation is “like squatting 500 pounds, whereas this bill we’ve filed is like warming up with just the bar – that’s a terrible analogy, but it gives you an idea.”

Wooten’s first attempt has garnered a significant amount of support.

Co-sponsor Joe White told FITSNews “since studies have proven early use of cannabis has potentially serious negative effects on young people, I believe that restricting the sale of cannabis products to minors is important legislation.”

Wooten’s bill has been co-sponsored by 41 legislators, including members of the House Republican, Democrat and Freedom caucuses.

Count on FITSNews for continued updates as lawmakers wrangle with regulating cannabis products this legislative session.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

(Via: Travis Bell)

Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.

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