South Carolina cannabis history
Reviewed
A person who possesses one ounce or less of marijuana, or ten grams or less of hashish, is guilty of a misdemeanor and must be imprisoned not more than thirty days or fined not less than $100 nor more than $200. The code page records 2026 Act No. 146, effective May 15, 2026, in a different subsection. It does not date the one-ounce marijuana penalty to that act.
This is a short history, not legal advice. The rules that apply today are on the South Carolina cannabis laws page. A date is included only when the linked page states it.
At a glance
Current § 44-53-370The one-ounce misdemeanor is in the prohibited-acts section of the 2026 code.
2023 Act No. 72The amendment note says that act inserted fentanyl language. It does not say the act created the marijuana penalty.
Section 44-53-370
- The effective date on the code page replaces a department name in another section. It is included to show the page contains that May 15, 2026 act, not as a marijuana-penalty enactment date.
Sources
Citations were checked against the linked pages on October 24, 2026. Claims without a statute, election result, regulator page, court opinion, or news report were left out.