After years of failing to legalize the medical marijuana bill, it appears that South Carolina might be legalizing the plant through legislation this 2022. In particular, the state looks to legalize medical cannabis use.

According to Marijuana Moment, the state of South Carolina is looking to advance medical marijuana legalization this year. The initiative is being led by Republican Senator Tom Davis. Cannabis Business Times notes that Senator Davis has been sponsoring and spearheading the legislation for the past number of years.

Marijuana Moment shares that Davis has been assured by another top Senate leader, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, that the proposal will be heard in 2022 as part of their first order of business.

Though the legalization of medical marijuana was introduced back in 2019 by Senator Davis alongside Representative Peter McCoy under the Compassionate Care Act, Cannabis Business Times notes that this did not move further due to a number of amendments made in the Senate.

In an interview with WMBF News earlier this month, Senator Davis said, “I’m optimistic about this bill being approved by both chambers of the legislature and sent to Governor McMaster before we adjourn in May. I’ve done a pretty good canvassing of my colleagues in the state senate. I’m confident that I have a majority of Senators in favor of this bill.”

The medical cannabis legislation focuses on providing doctors access and the freedom to prescribe or recommend medical cannabis to patients who are suffering from debilitating conditions. These include the likes of chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and Crohn’s disease to name a few, reports WMBF news.

Besides this, however, Senator Davis maintains that apart from affording the medical professionals those aforementioned liberties, the bill is still quite “conservative.”

In this regard, Senator Davis also remarked, “It’s not going to be as liberal or as generous or as broad as some other bills, but that’s ok because it is a bill that reflects what South Carolinians want.”

“They want to empower doctors to help patients who truly need cannabis for medical conditions,” continued Senator Davis in his statement.

In order to come up with the legislation, WMBF News revealed that Senator Davis actually studied other medical marijuana bills passed in 36 states, most of which allowed the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

Apart from analyzing the different bills passed in the corresponding states in the country, WMBF News also shared that Senator Davis also conversed with medical professionals such as doctors, as well as their patients, and law enforcement agencies and businesses to create a bill that he hopes to be used as a model by other states.

“I have taken the best provision, the best part of those bills and come up with a bill that I think is a template for any state that wants a medical bill that empowers doctors, empowers patients, but at the same time doesn’t want this to be a slippery slope to recreational use,” said Davis.

Apart from South Carolina, other states are also looking to legalize the plant, while there are other states such as California that are setting their sights on psychedelics. These include Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, and many others.