Local prosecutor reacts to DEA proposal to reclassify marijuana
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)— A federal effort to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug could impact the way local law enforcement and state prosecutors handle marijuana related cases.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have plans to move marijuana from a schedule I drug to a schedule III drug.
Marijuana has been classified as a schedule I drug since the Controlled Substances Act was signed in 1970. Drugs in this category are believed to be highly dangerous, addictive, and not for medicinal use.
The DEA’s plans to reclassify the drug means the federal government would recognize its medicinal use and acknowledge that it has less potential to be abused.
15h Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said the potential re-classification would not impact penalties for possession in South Carolina and that’s because, under state law, penalties for marijuana related drug offenses are already less harsh than other “schedule I” drugs.
“Cocaine, simple possession would be punished at up to two years for first offense, heroin is the same, all of those are punished in years. Whereas marijuana, presently speaking, is punished up to 30 days for possession and for distribution, it’s zero to five years,” Richardson said.
Even if implemented, marijuana will remain a controlled substance federally and its legal status varies from state to state.
“The states have moved faster at legalizing marijuana, than the feds have. So there’s sort of a tug, or a perception that we’re just going to close our eyes at the federal level and let you do whatever you want to do, it’s a state issue,” said Richardson.
Richardson said legalizing marijuana has always been a hot political topic but there is a lot of misinformation surrounding the number of people who have been jailed for possession of the drug.
“There could be people in prison for trafficking marijuana, or distribution of marijuana, but there’s none for possession, not one in the whole state of South Carolina,” Richardson adds “that shows you that out of a state of 5 million to have zero people in there. It is not what they’re telling you that the prisons are full of people with marijuana charges.”
In South Carolina, a bill to legalize medicinal marijuana now rests in Governor Henry McMasters hands.
The Compassionate Care Act has passed in both the state house and senate. McMaster has to decide to sign or veto it by May 9, the last day of the 2023-2024 legislative session.
Richardson said unless a provision in the proposed bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state, those with former convictions will remain on a person’s record.
“Imagine if 501 had always been 55 miles an hour from Conway to Aynor and suddenly next year, they changed it to 65 miles an hour,” Richardson said. “Well, me getting a ticket back when it was 55 doesn’t change the fact that I broke the law at when it was the law.”
The re-classification plan still needs to be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, then go through a period of public comment and review from an administration judge.
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Savannah Denton joined News 13 in July 2023 as a reporter and producer. Savannah is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. Follow Savannah on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of her work here.
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