Compassionate South Carolina believes that medical decisions should not be made between law enforcement officers and legislators.  If a medical professional has a bona fide ongoing relationship with a person who is medically complicated, then no government should stand in the way of what a doctor believes could improve that patient’s quality of life.

Our organizations goal this legislation session is to provide patients safe and effective access to medicinal cannabis. We understand that people who are suffering are in need of better options. Compassionate South Carolina understands the need for alternative therapies for our loved ones that are outside of the current pharmaceutical model.

As South Carolinians, we are proud, confident, well mannered, and faithful to our own. We believe in our close nit southern ways that protect our heritage. We can set in motions a comprehensive medical cannabis program that will  lead the charge in a conservative tightly structured cannabis program that everyone can be proud of.

Compassionate Access for all!

Medical Cannabis and South Carolina

Thousands of seriously ill South Carolinians and their families are depending on the General Assembly to enact compassionate medical cannabis legislation. The South Carolina Compassionate Care Act (S 212 /H 3521) would create a state-regulated program that will allow patients with debilitating medical conditions and a doctor’s recommendation to access medical cannabis from state licensed facilities. It’s past time to stop criminalizing the seriously ill for relieving their symptoms with medical cannabis and to allow safe, reliable access to this beneficial treatment.

Cannabis’ Safety and Medical Value Has Been Proven

Studies show that many patients suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, Crohn’s disease, and severe pain find relief from cannabis.

Prescription drugs often come with far more serious side effects than cannabis does, and many patients simply do not respond to them. Administering cannabis with a smoke-free vaporizer or as a sublingual tincture is a much more effective delivery method than taking pills for many patients, especially those suffering from severe nausea. Learn more about our team fighting to make a difference below

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QUOTES BY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

Prakash Nagarkatti, Ph.D., University of South Carolina's Vice President for Research – Columbia, SC

“Dr. Prakash Nagarkatti, Vice President at the University of South Carolina, has been doing research on marijuana cannabinoids for over 17 years. His team was one of the first labs in the world to demonstrate that human cancer cells can be killed by cannabinoids and mice bearing tumors were completely cured of cancers after cannabinoid treatment.  His research has also shown that cannabinoids are highly effective in suppressing inflammation that is responsible for causing autoimmune diseases.  There are over 80 autoimmune diseases such as MS, lupus, colitis, arthritis and the like, which are debilitating, and currently there is no cure against them.  Thus, marijuana offers significant hope to such patients.  His research has also shown that humans produce endocannabinoids that are very similar to those found in marijuana.  Thus, dysregulation in endocannabinoids and their receptors may lead to certain clinical disorders.  Marijuana may help reconstitute such deficiency.”

Dr. William Griffith MD, Anderson, SC

“In medicine, there is seldom only one way to treat a problem, so a treatment choice needs to weigh the benefits of a treatment against the risks, considering what is acceptable to the patient. It would be hard to find any other drug with more potential for benefit, less potential for significant risk, and be more affordable, than medical cannabis. Under the recommendations of a knowledgeable physician and with appropriate governmental controls, the addition of medical cannabis to the physician’s armamentarium of treatment options can be of considerable value. “

Dr. William Griffith MD, Anderson, SC

Dr. Stephen Merlin MD, addiction specialist – West Columbia, SC

“As an Addiction Doctor I am certain that the current heroin and pain pill epidemic, with all its death and destruction, can be laid at the feet of traditional treatment of chronic pain with opioids. This is not merely my opinion, but rather the conclusion of every epidemiological study on the subject. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine reports that there is “Conclusive or Substantial evidence that Cannabis or cannabinoids are effective for chronic pain“. In 32 years I have never seen a cannabis related death. It is simply wrong to deny the citizens of SC an alternative to traditional treatment of chronic pain. Further, to conflate medical and non-medical cannabis use is intellectually dishonest.”

Dr. Stephen Merlin MD, addiction specialist – West Columbia, SC

Susan Watson Neimy RN BSN (daughter has non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) – Charleston, SC

“I am a medical professional and patient advocate. My daughter, Hannah Neimy, a twenty-year-old pre-med student at the College of Charleston was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The treatment protocol for her cancer requires chemotherapy infusions every other week over the course of six months.  The treatment is certainly saving her life but it’s brutal to her body leaving her with extreme nausea, lethargy and discomfort which she describes as feeling every cell in her body and an inability to get comfortable. The medications Zofran and Ativan that have been prescribed to reduce these side effects make her feel completely drugged-out and are addictive. I have witnessed firsthand the after effects of her chemotherapy treatments with and without cannabis and I am convicted from a medical and care taker perspective that the cannabis have made her treatments far more tolerable.  The recovery from each treatment with the substitution of cannabis has allowed her to reclaim her life and return to school.”

Susan Watson Neimy RN BSN (daughter has non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) – Charleston, SC

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