No, South Carolina does not have a medical marijuana program. The state still treats cannabis as an illegal controlled substance, and possessing even a small amount can lead to criminal charges. The only exception is a narrow 2014 law, Julian’s Law, that lets certain severe epilepsy patients use low-THC CBD oil through clinical trials. A broader medical cannabis bill has been reintroduced for the 2025–2026 session, but as of early 2026 it has not passed.
Julian’s Law and Who It Actually Helps
Julian’s Law, passed in 2014, is the only carve-out in South Carolina’s marijuana prohibition. It applies to patients diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome, or another severe form of epilepsy that hasn’t responded to standard treatment. The permitted product is cannabidiol oil containing no more than 0.9% THC and at least 15% CBD.1South Carolina Legislature. 2013-2014 Bill 1035 – Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Treatment Research Act
The law is narrower than it sounds. Patients don’t buy the oil at a dispensary or pharmacy. It moves through FDA-approved expanded access clinical trials, managed by board-certified physicians practicing at academic medical centers in the state. Those physicians obtain the oil from approved sources and administer it as part of the trial. If you don’t have access to a participating physician at one of those centers, the law offers you nothing in practice.1South Carolina Legislature. 2013-2014 Bill 1035 – Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Treatment Research Act
Marijuana Possession Is Still a Crime
Because no functioning medical program exists, possessing marijuana for any reason outside Julian’s Law can result in charges. Penalties depend on the amount and any prior convictions.
- One ounce or less, first offense: misdemeanor, up to 30 days in jail and a fine of $100 to $200.
- More than one ounce: felony, up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 44-53-370 – Prohibited Acts A
South Carolina has not decriminalized small amounts. A first-time offense creates a criminal record that can follow you into employment, housing, and other decisions long after any jail time or fine is behind you.
The Compassionate Care Act That Could Change This
The South Carolina Compassionate Care Act has been introduced repeatedly. The current version, Senate Bill 53, was filed for the 2025–2026 session and referred to the Senate Committee on Medical Affairs in January 2025.3South Carolina Legislature. 2025-2026 Bill 53 – Compassionate Care Act It builds on the prior session’s S.423 and would create a tightly regulated medical cannabis system.
Who Would Qualify
A patient would need a diagnosis from a specific list: cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and other neurological disorders, PTSD, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, sickle cell anemia, autism, cachexia, severe muscle spasms from a chronic condition, and severe nausea related to end-of-life care in non-pregnant patients. A terminal illness with a life expectancy under one year would also qualify, as would any chronic condition for which a doctor could prescribe an opioid under accepted standards of care.4South Carolina Legislature. 2023-2024 Bill 423 – Compassionate Care Act
How Access Would Work
A physician with a genuine ongoing relationship with the patient would issue a written certification after completing a cannabis-specific continuing education course and conducting a thorough in-person evaluation of medical history, illness history, and substance use history. Patients would register with the state health department and receive an identification card. Designated caregivers would go through fingerprint-based criminal background checks. Products would be sold at licensed therapeutic cannabis pharmacies with a pharmacist on-site during business hours.4South Carolina Legislature. 2023-2024 Bill 423 – Compassionate Care Act
What Would Still Be Off-Limits
The bill would not allow smoking cannabis or possessing raw flower or leaf. Home cultivation would remain illegal. And the bill deliberately omits workplace protections. Private employers could still fire employees who test positive, and they could continue to prohibit cannabis use at work or working while impaired.4South Carolina Legislature. 2023-2024 Bill 423 – Compassionate Care Act If the Compassionate Care Act passes in its current form, a medical cannabis card would not protect your job.
Hemp, CBD, and Delta-8 Are a Separate Question
South Carolina law treats hemp differently from marijuana. Under Title 46, Chapter 55 of the state code, industrial hemp is defined as cannabis with a delta-9 THC concentration of no more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis, and it is legal to grow and sell.5South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws – Title 46, Chapter 55 Hemp-derived CBD products meeting that threshold are widely available. None of this is medical marijuana. It’s a separate legal category with its own limits, including FDA rules that restrict how CBD can be labeled and marketed as a food or supplement.6South Carolina Department of Public Health. Hemp in Beverages
Delta-8 THC products are currently sold in the state. No South Carolina law explicitly bans them, and they have existed in a gray area since the 2018 federal Farm Bill legalized hemp without directly addressing hemp-derived cannabinoids. That is shifting. Senate Bill 137 in the 2025–2026 session would require retailers and manufacturers of hemp-derived cannabinoids to obtain Department of Agriculture licenses, ban sales to anyone under 18, prohibit retail locations within 1,000 feet of schools, and restrict marketing aimed at minors.7South Carolina Legislature. 2025-2026 Bill 137 – Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids
Federal changes are larger. New farm bill provisions scheduled to take effect on November 12, 2026, redefine legal hemp based on total THC, including delta-8 and other isomers, and cap legal hemp products at 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. Many delta-8 gummies currently on shelves contain 25 milligrams or more per piece. If the provisions take effect as written, nearly all intoxicating hemp-derived THC products sold today would become illegal.
Federal Law Still Applies Even If South Carolina Changes Course
Marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law, classified alongside heroin and LSD as having high abuse potential and no accepted medical use.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 812 – Schedules of Controlled Substances9Federal Register. Schedules of Controlled Substances – Rescheduling of Marijuana10White House. Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Rescheduling would not legalize marijuana; manufacturing, distributing, and possessing it would remain subject to federal criminal law. Schedule III would let doctors prescribe it and change how cannabis businesses are taxed.
One federal conflict is worth knowing about now. Federal law prohibits anyone who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance from possessing firearms or ammunition.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Because marijuana is still federally controlled, that prohibition reaches cannabis users no matter what their state allows. An ATF rule that took effect in January 2026 clarified that “unlawful user” means someone who uses regularly and recently, not someone with a single past incident.12Federal Register. Revising Definition of Unlawful User of or Addicted to Controlled Substance Regular medical cannabis use would still qualify. If South Carolina eventually passes a medical program, registered patients who own firearms should understand the federal conflict is not resolved by state law.