Hemp THC Drinks Legal in South Carolina, Solicitor General Concludes
The legality of each specific drink must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis
South Carolina Solicitor General Robert D. Cook issued an opinion Sept. 16 that it is legal to manufacture, distribute and sell nonalcoholic beverages containing hemp-derived delta-9 THC in compliance with the 2018 Farm Bill.
However, the chief legal officer in South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office said state officials are unable to provide a “blanket” assessment of the legality of a category of THC-infused beverages, meaning that “the legality of a particular THC-infused drink must be determined individually.”
Cook issued this opinion in a letter to South Carolina House Speaker D. Murrell Smith Jr., R-Sumter, who sought clarity on the matter.
“No statute, regulation, agency guidance or prior attorney general opinion provides a clear answer as to whether these hemp-infused beverages that are manufactured, distributed or sold in South Carolina are legal,” Smith wrote in a letter to the attorney general’s office, pointing to a July 2019 opinion from Wilson’s office that confirmed material containing more than 0.3% THC would constitute marijuana.
“But it did not explicitly state whether possession or sale of products containing hemp-derived THC with concentrations of delta-9 THC not more than 0.3% are legal in South Carolina,” Smith wrote.
South Carolina is one of nine states in the U.S. without a medical cannabis program. The state’s Senate passed medical cannabis legalization bills twice, in 2022 and 2024, but the House, under Smith’s speakership since May 2022, has failed to act.
In his opinion this week, Cook analyzed federal and state statutes and reviewed related case law to determine that any hemp-infused drinks that meet the standard set in the 2018 Farm Bill are legal in South Carolina.
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