After a frantic 24 hours of floor fights, failed votes and quiet backroom dealmaking, the S.C. Senate on Thursday passed a bill to formally legalize and regulate the THC-infused beverages and gummies that have been on store shelves across the state since they were first authorized in the 2018 federal farm bill.
To be legal, the THC must be derived from hemp, not marijuana.
Under the Senate bill, sales of 12-ounce drinks containing up to 5 milligrams of THC could be sold in retail outlets with beer and wine licenses. Stronger drinks, as well as gummies of up to 40 milligrams, would have to be sold in liquor stores. On-premise consumption would be forbidden anywhere.
Charleston Democratic Sen. Ed Sutton, one of four members to vote against the legislation, questioned the wisdom of pushing people into liquor stores.
“We are going to force alcoholics into liquor stores to get gummies, and I think that is a very bad mistake,” he said.
The bill now moves to the S.C. House, which tried and failed to pass either a full or partial ban on the products in February.
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