Is THCA legal in South Carolina? South Carolina hemp and kratom laws

The law in South Carolina

South Carolina's Hemp Farming Act, Title 46, Chapter 55 of the state code, defines hemp as the plant and its derivatives, cannabinoids and acids at the federally defined THC level: a delta-9 THC concentration of no more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis, or the figure in federal law, whichever is greater. How that wording works with the federal total THC definition that starts on December 11, 2026 has not been addressed by any source we found.

Hemp products, including cosmetics, food and any product with a hemp-derived cannabinoid such as CBD, are defined separately, and the chapter says it does not apply to possessing, transporting or selling them. A Department of Agriculture license covers growing, handling and processing only.

1. July 10, 2019Attorney General's opinion: raw hemp plant material needs a hemp license.
2. October 4, 2021Attorney General's opinion: the Hemp Farming Act does not legalize delta-8 THC.
3. September 16, 2024Attorney General's opinion: drinks with 0.3% or less delta-9 THC by dry weight are legal.
4. July 11, 2025The Kratom Consumer Protection Act takes effect: age 21 and label rules.
5. April 30, 2026H.4641, moving kratom into Schedule I, passes the House.
6. June 25, 2026The House rejects the conference report on H.3924, the hemp ingestibles bill.
7. December 11, 2026The federal limit of 0.4 mg total THC per container begins.

The Attorney General's opinions

South Carolina has no statute on hemp THC products, so the Attorney General's opinions carry most of the detail. Each is the office's reading of the law, not a statute or a court ruling.

• Raw flower, July 10, 2019. Without a hemp license, unprocessed hemp plant material may not be processed, grown, sold or even possessed. Finished hemp products are not "handling."
• Delta-8, October 4, 2021. A court would likely hold that the Hemp Farming Act does not legalize delta-8 THC or any other THC isomer by itself, so it stays in Schedule I. The opinion left particular products to law enforcement and prosecutors.
• Drinks, September 16, 2024. Non-alcoholic drinks with 0.3 percent or less delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis are legal under the act as written, which sets no age limits or other limits beyond that figure.

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Age, licenses and food

State law sets no minimum age for hemp or CBD products and requires no license to sell finished hemp products. We found no rule on shipping them to South Carolina consumers.

H.3924, a bill to regulate hemp-derived ingestibles, passed both chambers in different forms. On June 25, 2026 the House rejected the conference report, 28 to 69, and it was not enacted. Other hemp drink bills remain in House committees.

The Department of Agriculture said in 2019 that it follows the FDA's conclusion that CBD cannot be added to human or animal food sold to the public, and in 2020 that hemp and CBD are not permitted ingredients in animal feed in South Carolina. We found no newer guidance.

Kratom, kava, amanita and spores

The South Carolina Kratom Consumer Protection Act, Act 35 of 2025, took effect July 11, 2025. It bars selling kratom products to anyone under 21 or displaying them where people under 21 can reach them, bans fully synthetic 7-hydroxymitragynine and sets label rules, with civil penalties of up to $1,000 for a first offense. H.4641, which would move kratom into Schedule I and repeal the act, passed the House 98 to 4 on April 30, 2026 and is in the Senate Medical Affairs Committee.

We found no South Carolina statute naming kava, amanita muscaria or its compounds, or mushroom spores. Psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I.

The federal change on December 11

From December 11, 2026, the federal definition counts total THC including THCA and limits a finished hemp-derived cannabinoid product to 0.4 mg per container. Read the federal page and What's changing on December 11.

Products with no THC fall outside the federal change: broad spectrum and isolate CBD, THC-free topicals and functional mushrooms.