WHAT'S NEW: MEDICAL MARIJUANA MOVEMENT IN SOUTH CAROLINA

We are winning the battle of hearts and minds in South Carolina, and it is only a matter of time before we get the safe, legal access to good medicine that suffering patients in our state need and deserve.
But to make it happen sooner, we need to collaborate better. Below are some resources to help us achieve our goal.

CONNECT WITH THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA MOVEMENT IN SC:

SC MEDICAL MARIJUANA MOVEMENT facebook.com/gotmedicine | gotmedicine.org SC MEDICAL MARIJUANA PETITION change.org/p/sign-share-legalize-medical-marijuana-in-sc-now SC COMPASSIONATE CARE ALLIANCE facebook.com/groups/649482991839274 COLUMBIA NORML columbianorml.org SOUTH CAROLINA MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE facebook.com/groups/57074982857

GET YOUR GEAR! [click here]

May 20 - Rally on the Steps!

Time to demand action from our politicians!On May 20th, the subcommittee for house bill S672 will hold it's first...

Posted by SC Medical Marijuana Movement on Thursday, May 7, 2015

Time to demand action from our politicians!

On May 20th, the subcommittee for house bill S672 will hold it's first earing before determining if this bill for the legalization of medical marijuana will move to the house for a vote. We are asking all who are able to join us on the steps of the State House in Columbia, SC to show our support for this bill. The more faces we can attach to this bill, the better.

We will be gathering at 11:30 am on the South steps of the capitol building. Please invite your friends and share this event on your personal facebook pages.

This hearing has been moved to a later date, but we are still holding the rally. We believe it vital to maintain momentum and to continue to raise awareness.

Please share this event with your friends!

https://www.facebook.com/events/879457738764630/

SC Subcommittee to Meet on Medical Marijuana - Contact Your Legislators!

Tomorrow afternoon, a subcommittee of the South Carolina House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee will take testimony on the need for a compassionate medical marijuana program.

If you are a South Carolina resident, please email your representative today to ask him or her to support medical marijuana.

If you are a seriously ill patient with a qualifying medical condition (definition 21), the loved one of a patient, or a medical professional, please also consider testifying in person. Let Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) know if you’re interested: state@mpp.org

The South Carolina Medical Marijuana Program Act, H 4037, would allow patients suffering from a listed condition to use and safely access medical marijuana if recommended by their doctors. This bill is more comprehensive than and addresses the many flaws of the legislation that was passed last year in an attempt to make certain medical marijuana products accessible to a limited class of patients.

The post South Carolina Subcommittee Takes Up Medical Marijuana 

appeared first on MPP Blog.

SC's New Medical Marijuana Bill: S.672

South Carolina has a new Medical Marijuana bill that has been sent to the Senate Medical Affairs Committee.

FOR MORE INFO: S.672

UPCOMING EVENTS Monday, April 27, 6:30 P.M. U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney Town Hall York Technical College, Baxter Hood Center 452 S. Anderson Road, Rock Hill Expect a packed house.

Saturday, May 2, 10 A.M.- 12 P.M. Yeah That Cure! March ON, Marijuana! One City Plaza, Greenville May 2, 2015, in cities around the country and world, advocates for marijuana reform and those who share our opinion will be gathering to raise public awareness and make space for a dialogue supporting marijuana reform in the Upstate. For more information, visit Yeah THAT Cure or email yeahthatcure@gmail.com.

Sunday, May 10, 3 P.M. Columbia NORML Chapter Meeting We meet at 2025 Marion Street, in the historic home of Modjeska Simkins. Our meetings are open to the public, and agendas will be available on our Facebook page and to those in attendance.

Copyright © 2015 Columbia NORML, All rights reserved.

SC Medical Marijuana Study Committee Meeting Info

 

Medical Marijuana Study Committee

The first meeting of the Medical Marijuana Study Committee meets Wednesday at 1 P.M. in the Gressette building, Room 105. If you are unable to attend, you can follow the proceedings online at these links.

- Live Broadcast -
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/video/vod.php?KEY=3323&audio=0
- Audio only Broadcast -
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/video/vod.php?KEY=3323&audio=1

We have also had a request for personal stories from individuals who have benefited or could benefit from the use of marijuana as medicine. You may share those accounts by email, columbianorml@gmail.com, or mail them to our office, 2025 Marion Street, Columbia, 29201.
 

Wayne Borders
Acting Executive Director & President
 

Dates to Remember
 

Chapter Meeting, Sunday, September 14, 3 P.M.: We meet at 2025 Marion Street, in the historic home of Modjeska Simkins. Our meetings are open to the public, and agendas will be available online and to those in attendance.

Summer UPDATE from Columbia NORML

Summer & Recess 

As August gets underway, our federal legislators begin their 5-week vacation, and the midterm election countdown- 100 days away- starts, our transition back into activity begins. Since the end of the legislative session, we advocates have continued to make landmark strides and shift the mainstream debate into a more reasonable conversation. And, of course, the issue remained a hot news item:

- Two weeks after Governor Haley signed both the industrial hemp and CBD oil bills into law, GW Pharmaceuticals released preliminary efficacy and safety data of their proprietary CBD oil, Epidilex.

- The U.S. House attempted to stop Washington, D.C.'s move to decriminalize marijuana possession. The effort failed, and the police will now impose a $25 fine for possession of up to an ounce.

- In early July, Kentucky's first legal hemp grow in more than 50 years was looking real good.

- NORML launched the NORML Business Network, a kind of Better Business Bureau for the legal cannabis industry.

- The U.S. House actually addressed the issue of banking! That was a shocker.

- South Carolinians proved a readiness for legalization of medical marijuana!

These are just a few of the many stories and continuing efforts we now have an opportunity to build upon, especially after this coming election and into the next legislative session: Representative Todd Rutherford has already stated his intention to again file the "Put Patients First Act"; our new CBD oil law has a provision that creates a study committee to develop a plan for the use and sale of medical marijuana. We need to advocate for the formation of this committee because it has until March 15, 2015 to submit its findings and recommendations to the South Carolina House and Senate. And, we must remember that there are still several bills at the federal level that deserve a vote. It's a good thing our Congressmen are back home for their 5-week recess. Find out where your U.S. Representative will be speaking, and give them a reminder. They, like us, still have things to accomplish.

Enjoy your remaining summer,
 

Wayne Borders
Acting Executive Director & President
 

Dates to Remember
 

Chapter Meeting, Sunday, August 10, 3 P.M.: We meet at 2025 Marion Street, in the historic home of Modjeska Simkins. Our meetings are open to the public, and agendas will be available online and to those in attendance.

Adopt-A-Highway Pick-up, Saturday, August 16, 10 A.M.- 12 P.M.: We will meet at the Busted Plug statue, the giant fire hydrant by Palmetto Baptist. Our route is the length of Taylor between Bull and Huger. After our clean up, for those who feel up to it, we can go to Soda City Farmers' Market on Main.

Mid-term Election, Tuesday, November 4, 7 A.M.- 7 P.M.: VOTE! To update your voter registration and find your polling site, visit http://www.scvotes.org. Also, if you or someone you know has finished or will finish serving parole or probation before the election, they can re-register to vote. Contact your County Election Commission for details. The deadline for voter registration is October 4.

 

 

 

New SC Medical Marijuana Bill (H 4879) is the Real Deal!

South Carolina House Minority Leader, Todd Rutherford (D-Columbia) just filed fairly comprehensive legislation (H 4879) that would legalize medical marijuana in SC for a broad range of medical conditions.

While certainly not all-inclusive, this is an excellent bill that would relieve suffering for innumerable patients in SC.

Unfortunately, most news summaries of the bill so far have been brief and have made the bill seem far more limited in scope than it is in reality.

We urge you to read the bill yourself: H 4879

We then ask that you

• Sign our Petition in Support of SC Medical Marijuana
• Contact your Legislators
• Contact Local Media
• Spread the Word!

Patients all around our state our suffering unnecessarily. We all deserve safe and legal access to good medicine prescribed by our doctors.

Please help us get this bill passed.

Thanks.

New SC Marijuana Bill is a Good Start: Please Support S1035!

SC Senator, Tom Davis, introduced a new bill (S1035) which would allow some suffering patients in South Carolina legal access to CBD oil, a cannibis extract.

According to Davis, "The doctors say CBD might help, but that the law prevents them from prescribing it to her. That is morally wrong, and the purpose of S1035 is to remove those legal barriers."

This is a big step forward and we urge citizens in SC to contact their legislators in support of S1035.

We also encourage everyone to apply the same logic behind this bill to our broader campaign to legalize safe access to good medicine for all suffering patients in SC. As Davis points out, it IS morally wrong for politicians to be interfering with doctor-prescribed medicine.

This is the point of our campaign and we appreciate your support.

Please SIGN & SHARE our online petition today!

Now's the time to SHOW SOME LOVE!

This February, the SC Medical Marijuana Movement is launching a "SHOW SOME LOVE" campaign on behalf of suffering patients in South Carolina.

Our goal: 10,000 signatures on our petition before the end of the month. 

If we want to make any real progress this year on medical marijuana in SC, we have to make ourselves heard on this issue and give those in the statehouse who support our efforts as much ammunition as possible.

WE CAN DO THIS, but we need your help. 

PLEASE SIGN & SHARE OUR PETITION TODAY

and help us reach the 10,000 signature mark this month. 

ACT NOW! Tell Obama to Remove Marijuana from DEA's Schedules of Drugs

In a profile published this week by The New Yorker magazine, President Barack Obama acknowledged the fact that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol for the consumer.

Yet federal law classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, a category the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) considers “the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules.”

It’s time for that to change. The Controlled Substances Act gives the executive branch, led by President Obama, the legal authority to remove marijuana from the DEA’s schedule of drugs.

That authority should be exercised immediately.

ACT NOW >>> PLEASE SIGN THE CHANGE.ORG PETITION calling on President Obama to remove marijuana from the DEA’s schedule of drugs. Then share it widely with your friends and relatives, and encourage them to sign and share it, too. 

FOR MORE INFO:
http://blog.mpp.org/prohibition/petition-to-obama-.....

Infographic - Medical Marijuana is Good Medicine

by HealthCentral.

Comprehensive Report on the Cannibis Extract Movement [slideshow]

This is a truly impressive report on the medicinal use of cannibis oil extracts.

Please take the time to view this slideshow - you won't be disapppointed -
and share it with your friends, family, and social networks!

Thanks!

---

A comprehensive review of evidence that cannabis extracts can eliminate cancers and other diseases. Features information from patients, caregivers, researchers, doctors, dispensaries, and corporations.

Comprehensive Report on The Cannabis Extract Movement from TheHempSolution

Action Alert: Support Hemp Legislation in SC

Though hemp legislation is not the focus of our medical marijuana campaign, the issue is important in its own right and faces the same ungrounded, illogical, and counter- productive obstacles that we face in our efforts to bring relief to suffering patients in SC.

ACTION ALERT:

A member of the General Assembly needs our help. Representative Stephen Goldfinch is seeking input on issues the people view as important. This is the perfect time to inform Rep. Goldfinch that South Carolina grown hemp is going to provide jobs for the people and money for the state. Additionally, it can handle our hot summers and pouring rains, unlike tobacco.
Rep. Goldfinch needs to hear from you, especially if you or someone you know lives in his district- District 108, parts of Charleston and Georgetown Counties (NW Mt. Pleasant up to Murrells Inlet).

Being that he sits on the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environment Affairs Committee, his support on any hemp related legislation, as well as H. 3060, will be most advantageous.

StephenGoldfinch@schouse.gov
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess120_2013-2014/bills/3060.htm

Thanks to W.B. from Columbia NORML for sharing this info 

You Can Help Legalize Medical Marijuana in SC: Contacting the Media is Easy & Effective

The tide of public opinion regarding medical marijuana and decriminalization in general is clearly turning in our favor. You can help us take advantage of this growing trend by contacting the media in your part of the state.

"Letters to the Editor" are an easy and effective tool, 

even if you have never written one before.

• Step 1 - WRITE YOUR LETTER

Your letter does not have to be long or complicated. Just state your opinion in favor of safe and legal access to medical marijuana in SC and offer some reasons for your support. Since we have science and justice on our side, we don't need to go on a rant. Just make your point and trust that the more we get it out there, the more mainstream acceptance we will garner.

Letter Samples: 

Agnes P. - Wadmalaw [The State]
Ronald B. - Aiken [The State]

• Step 2 - SEND IT TO THE MEDIA

This is where technology can really come in handy. In addition to sending out traditional snail mail, you can now reach newspapers, radio and TV stations, and other media outlets with just a few clicks of the mouse. 

Here is a useful list of SC Media Contacts, including phone numbers, addresses, web sites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and more.

• Step 3 - LET US KNOW WHEN YOU GET PUBLISHED!

By working together, encouraging each other, and sharing our resources, we can help suffering patients get the relief they need and deserve!

Medical Marijuana has an Ally in South Carolina State House

If you didn't catch the story the first time around, you might not know that the SC Medical Marijuana Movement has an ally in the statehouse.

Democrat J. Todd Rutherford from Dist. 74 Columbia has said that he will do everything it takes to get medical marijuana legalized in South Carolina.

see original story: Rutherford's Effort to Legalize Medical Marijuana in SC

Please SUPPORT HIM & CONTACT HIM. 

Emailing Todd Rutherford doesn't work because of the volume of emails he receives so he requests that we call him at the State House office (803) 734-9441.

Let him know you support him on this issue and want to help somehow. It's very important that we back those in government that are for medical marijuana legalization and regulation.

We can also reach out to Rep. Rutherford on social media.

LIKE Representative Todd Rutherford on FACEBOOK

FOLLOW Representative Todd Rutherford on TWITTER

Be a Part of the SC Medical Marijuana Movement

WE NEED REGIONAL ORGANIZERS AROUND THE STATE!

If you are interested in helping with online and offline promotion of our campaign, petition, and social media efforts, please get in touch!

Visit our fan page: 
 facebook.com/gotmedicine

join our organizing group:  

facebook.com/groups/gotmedicine

or Use the "Contact Us" form below - Thanks!

CNN's Medical Expert, Dr. Sanja Gupta, Switches Sides in Favor of Medical Marijuana

In a stunning reversal of opinion, Dr. Sanja Gupta apologizes to Americans for not recognizing and acknowledging the therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana until now.

For more on the story, check out:

• Gupta's op-ed on CNN: "Why I Changed my Mind on Weed"
• Common Dreams' coverage of the story

MSNBC also covered the story...

Bold SC Leader Pushes for Medical Marijuana

SC State Representative, Todd Rutherford [D- Columbia] recently made a valiant but failed attempt to legalize medical marijuana by trying to amend a bill on controlled substances that would have allowed doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to suffering patients.

Though his attempt failed, his effort is a sign that we are moving in the right direction.

In addition to making a number of valid points on the issue of medical marijuana, Rutherford also correctly points out that it is already legal in South Carolina [according to the South Carolina Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act of 1979)]

Here's more on the story...

ACTION ALERT - H 3060 Needs Your Support!

ACTION ALERT - Columbia SC Norml

Please, contact your state representative and express your support for passage of H 3060. Enactment of H 3060 would remove mandatory minimum sentences for certain controlled substances offenses in favor of less punitive penalties and establish a study commission of 5 senators and 5 representatives that would review South Carolina's drug laws.

The representatives listed below are members of the House Judiciary Committee. If your state representative is on this committee, they most certainly need to hear from you. Check www.scstatehouse.gov to find your representative and district.

Write, call, or pay them a visit!!!

Name/Party/District
Delleney, "Greg", Jr., Chairman- R 43
Smith, James E., Jr., 1st V.C.- D 72
Quinn, Rick, 2nd V.C.- R 69
Bannister, Bruce W.- R 24
Bowen, Don C.- R 8
Clemmons, Alan D.- R 107
Cole, J. Derham, Jr.- R 32
Funderburk, Laurie Slade- D 52
Hamilton, Daniel P. "Dan"- R 20
Horne, Jenny Anderson- R 94
Kennedy, Ralph Shealy, Jr.- R 39
McCoy, Peter M., Jr.- R 115
McEachern, Joseph A. "Joe"- D 77
McLeod, Walton J.- D 40
Munnerlyn, Elizabeth R.- D 54
Murphy, Christopher J. "Chris"- R 98
Nanney, Wendy K.- R 22
Newton, Wm. Weston J.- R 120
Pope, Thomas E. "Tommy"- R 47
Rutherford, J. Todd- D 74
Sellers, Bakari T.- D 90
Tallon, Edward R. "Eddie", Sr.- R 33
Thayer, Anne J.- R 9
Weeks, J. David- D 51
Whipper, J. Seth- D 113

Lastly, S 220, South Carolina's medical marijuana bill will be my personal priority. Another member and myself have a meeting this Thursday with state Senator Larry Martin of Pickens, District 2 (Pickens County). He is the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee who will choose the 5 senators on the drug law study committee should H3060 pass. We need phone calls, emails, and letters to inundate his office, as well as the office of every member of the Medical Affairs committee where S 220 remains idle. The chairman of the Medical Affairs committee is Harvey Peeler of Cherokee, District 14 (Cherokee, Spartanburg, Union & York Counties). The other members of this committee are listed below. Call, email, write, or visit them to express your support and urge them to move this to floor for passage.

Peeler, Harvey S., Jr., Chairman- R 14
Courson, John E.- R 20
Hayes, Robert W., Jr.- R 15
Jackson, Darrell- D 21
Fair, Michael L.- R 6
Hutto, C. Bradley- D 40
Pinckney, Clementa C.- D 45
Verdin, Daniel B. “Danny”, III- R 9
Cleary, Raymond E., III- R 34
Lourie, Joel- D 22
Martin, Shane R.- R 13
Nicholson, Floyd- D 10
Scott, John L., Jr.- D 19
Ford, Robert- D 42
Alexander, Thomas C.- R 1
Bright, Lee- R 12
Davis, Tom- R 46

Wayne Borders,
acting president, Columbia NORML

Guest Post: If Drugs Were Legal...

GUEST POST: Skip Johnson, Short Takes By Skip

If drugs were legal...

By now we all recognize that the so-called "War on Drugs" has failed. It's over. Now it's time to move on and replace it with something else. But what?

I vote that we legalize all drugs such as heroin, cocaine and marijuana (especially marijuana) for adults, regulate them the way we do other addictive drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, and tax them heavily.

What would happen if we did?

Drug crimes at all levels would drop overnight, because where there is no profit motive there is no crime. Drug dealers who infest our nation's schools would evaporate, making it much harder for teenagers to obtain drugs. Drugs-related turf wars and other street crimes in our neighborhoods would end. International terrorism, which illegal drugs help finance, would suffer a crushing blow.

Law enforcement agents could spend their time chasing real criminals -- yes, real criminals, people who endanger society, not people we're just mad at.

Clogged court dockets would clear. The problem of overcrowded prisons everywhere would vanish as countless nonviolent inmates -- the ones we're just mad at -- go free. And taxpayers would save a bare minimum of $15,000 per prisoner per year.

Drug addicts would be treated as alcohol addicts are -- as sick people who need our help, not criminals who need to be imprisoned.

Legalizing drugs also would create jobs, guarantee users a clean and safe supply, reduce illness, restore some of our lost civil rights -- much more, but I promised to keep this blog under 300 words.

Just one more thing. Legalizing drugs would not cause drug use to rise. The sad fact is that anyone who wants to use drugs is using drugs. To a drug user, the law is almost irrelevant.

-Skip