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“I can tell you, it absolutely does help children with seizures. It does help cancer patients, because we all know them in our lives.”
By Skylar Laird, South Carolina Daily Gazette
Accusations of lying and not being enough of a Republican flew during an often-contentious debate among GOP candidates for attorney general Wednesday night.
Sen. Stephen Goldfinch and 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe frequently exchanged barbs during the hourlong debate, while 8th Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo stayed out of the fray.
The candidates often agreed at least broadly on issues, though they sometimes differed on specifics.
Early voting for the June 9 election to replace Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is running for governor, started Tuesday and will continue weekdays through June 5. The winner will face the only Democrat to file, Charleston attorney Richard Hricik, in November. The debate was hosted and broadcast by SCETV.
The clearest dividing line came over a question about whether the candidates would support legalizing medical marijuana.
The Senate has twice passed legislation allowing cannabis to be used medicinally for certain illnesses. Both bills died in the House without a floor vote—thrown out in 2022 on a technical ruling as floor debate began and in 2024 in committee as the clock ran out on the session. But the issue is likely to return after the federal government in April loosened restrictions on medical marijuana products in states where they’re legal and set hearings this summer for rescheduling the drug.
Pascoe questioned why the federal government took so long to change the drug’s classification in the first place.
“I can tell you, it absolutely does help children with seizures. It does help cancer patients, because we all know them in our lives,” Pascoe said. “So, I applaud the Department of Justice for that rescheduling.”
Stumbo disagreed.
The state already legalized growing hemp, which naturally lacks enough THC to get people high. There’s no reason to do anything more, he said.
“I believe the medical marijuana bill now is just a Trojan horse for recreational use, and I oppose it,” Stumbo said.
Goldfinch voted for the “Compassionate Care Act” in both 2022 and 2024. It would have allowed people with debilitating medical conditions to eat, vape or topically apply cannabis products under heavy regulations.
But on Wednesday night, he didn’t give a yes-or-no answer on medical marijuana. First, he said, legislators need to address THC-infused drinks and gummies effectively legalized by a 2018 federal law that left a lot of gray area.
“Whatever your position is, honestly, I think it’s a moot point at this point, because it is ubiquitous in South Carolina, and it’s a real problem, especially the stuff that’s unregulated,” Goldfinch said. “It needs to be regulated.”
Legislation limiting sales of the intoxicating hemp products could still become law this year.
A compromise between differing versions passed by the House and Senate could be worked out when legislators return next month to finish work on the state budget. But agreement on where to draw the line could be difficult.
Earlier this year, a separate bill banning most hemp products got returned to committee amid a chaotic divide among Republicans on the House floor.
This story was first published by South Carolina Daily Gazette.
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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
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