Latest news with #ChrisWooten
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Officials praise new law criminalizing ‘revenge porn.' SC was the last state to ban it.
Gov. Henry McMaster speaks about a new law criminalizing what's commonly called "revenge porn" at a signing ceremony Thursday, May 29, 2025. Behind him from left to right is Rep. Chris Wooten, Attorney General Alan Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pam Evette. (Photo by Shaun Chornobroff/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster praised a new law criminalizing the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images, also known as 'revenge porn,' which lawmakers said Thursday was long overdue. Since last June, when a law in Massachusetts took effect, South Carolina had been the only state in the nation that didn't ban the distribution of nude photos of someone without permission. The Palmetto State ban applies to photos and videos. Those include fake images made through artificial intelligence or any other technology that are 'indistinguishable from an authentic visual depiction of the individual.' Thursday's celebratory signing at the Statehouse comes 10 days after President Donald Trump signed a similar bill into law. 'We've seen tragedies occur. We've seen these crimes occur. But this particular one in South Carolina was not a crime at the time, but it is now,' said McMaster, who actually signed the bill into law on May 12. It took effect immediately. Differences between the new state and federal laws include the punishment. Here's how you can use the Take It Down Act Under the federal 'Take It Down Act,' the maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine and two years in prison — three years if the victim is a minor. In South Carolina, the same crime is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. For any additional conviction, the violator faces up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The exception would be someone who can prove there was no intent to damage the victim's reputation or cause harm. That would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail on first offense only. A provision in the federal law additionally gives victims a way to get a photo or video removed from social media. But that part, which requires online platforms to create a request-and-removal process, doesn't take effect until next year. Rep. Brandon Guffey said the state law's passage signifies an age shift in the Legislature. 'It shows that there is a new generation within the Statehouse that understands cybercrimes,' said the Rock Hill Republican. Rep. Chris Wooten, the lead sponsor for several years, has said previous efforts died not because of opposition, but rather a lack of understanding of the problem — or that it existed. The Lexington Republican started pushing for the legislation after his work on an oversight committee made him realize law enforcement had no way of prosecuting people who spread images without consent — but weren't doing it for profit. He pre-filed his first bill in December 2022. At the time, South Carolina was among three states that didn't criminalize it. That bill died last year without ever getting a hearing. Wooten pre-filed another bill ahead of this year's session. This time, it passed both chambers unanimously before getting the governor's signature. 'I want to continue to protect not only our daughters, wives and significant others, but our sons too,' Wooten said in McMaster's office for the public signing. In 2023, the Legislature passed a law banning sexual extortion, often called 'sextortion,' when someone uses sexual photos or videos to blackmail people. That law is named Gavin's Law after Guffey's 17-year-old son, who died by suicide three years ago after a scammer posing as a college girl on Instagram threatened to release explicit photos unless he kept sending them money. Nigerian man faces life in a US prison for sextortion that led to death of SC legislator's son A Nigerian man was extradited earlier this year to the U.S. to face federal charges for the scam. But Gavin's Law applies only if money is involved, not if someone is using it embarrass, humiliate or harm someone's reputation. Beyond leading for the more protections in South Carolina law, Guffey traveled to Washington, D.C., in February to call on Congress to pass the federal version of what's commonly called 'revenge porn.' He was among attendees at the White House ceremony May 19 when Trump signed it into law. Attorney General Alan Wilson said he prefers the South Carolina version because of the tougher penalties. 'Thank you for what you did,' Wilson said of the law's passage. 'Now we can get to work.' Other laws passed this year will also help his office protect children, he said. Those include two bills criminalizing the use of AI — or any other technology — to create or morph images and videos of children into inappropriate content. Another new law, one that Wilson lauded as a 'game changer', granted his office power to subpoena websites and internet providers to locate people suspected of accessing child pornography, speeding up these investigations. These new laws will 'make it better for us to be able to go after people who exploit those using the internet,' Wilson said. All of those laws passed in the final days of this year's legislative session, which officially ended May 8. Better late than never, McMaster said. 'Some folks say in politics, 'nothing gets done without a deadline,'' he said in his office, before sitting down for the public signing. 'It takes legislation a long time to pass. Sometimes, it takes way too long.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NICE Actimize Empowers SURVEIL-X with Generative AI, Launching a New Era in Market Abuse and Conduct Risk Detection
Actimize's powerful AI capabilities contribute to a reduction in false positives by as much as 85 percent while detecting up to four times more true misconduct risk HOBOKEN, N.J., May 28, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NICE Actimize, a NICE (NASDAQ: NICE) business, today announced that its market-leading SURVEIL-X Holistic Conduct Surveillance solution is now integrated with Actimize Intelligence, powerful Generative AI capabilities designed to ensure accurate and timely detection of market abuse and conduct risks across every type of regulated employee communication, from emails and chats to traditional voice calls. Created to address the growing complexities of financial crime and conduct surveillance, Actimize Intelligence Generative AI leverages large language models (LLMs) in order to understand the true context of communications, going beyond keywords and rules-based detection to differentiate between suspicious and non-suspicious communications, factoring in jargon, tone, sentiment and intent. Chris Wooten, EVP, Vertical Markets, NICE said, "The integration of Actimize Intelligence and its generative AI capabilities into SURVEIL-X marks a significant leap forward in conduct risk detection and surveillance. Our proven AI technology and trusted SURVEIL-X surveillance solution empower compliance professionals to identify true risks with unprecedented accuracy and efficiency, while dramatically reducing the workload associated with false positives. With more than two decades of experience in financial services and a vast knowledge base, we are taking communications surveillance to the next level and delivering on the promise of AI." Additionally, financial services firms will be able to leverage Actimize Intelligence to: Eliminate false positives and detect true risks. Actimize Intelligence may reduce false positives by as much as 85 percent and detect up to four times more true misconduct risk than traditional rule-based surveillance systems. Expand global reach with multi-language surveillance. Actimize Intelligence's multi-lingual AI understands and analyzes communications in 150-plus languages, and presents simple, easy-to-understand results summaries. Receive intelligent alerts with clear explanations. Actimize Intelligence does not just alert to suspicious communications, it explains what it found (e.g., insider dealing, market manipulation, collusion, aggression, or other types of misconduct), with precise explanations showing where and why the communications were identified as suspicious. "Integrating AI-driven communication surveillance with trade and transaction monitoring is more than just an efficiency boost—it's a game-changer for compliance. By seamlessly analyzing contextual patterns, AI unlocks deeper insights without adding operational overhead, transforming surveillance from reactive oversight into proactive risk management," noted Vinod Jain, Strategic Advisor, Capital Markets, Datos Insights. "Surveillance is only as strong as the data it relies on. To bridge the gap between fragmented communications and trading oversight, firms must embrace holistic platforms that unify structured and unstructured data. Clean data isn't just an advantage—it's a necessity. AI is key to making it work." SURVEIL-X, holistic conduct surveillance suite offers unparalleled risk coverage for buy- and sell-side firms, insurance companies, crypto exchanges, regulators and more, by enabling accurate detection and rapid, thorough investigation of market abuse, inappropriate sales practices, and conduct risk. SURVEIL-X also features the industry's leading case management solution which provides the added benefits of built-in workflows to accelerate investigations, and automated trade reconstruction. NICE Actimize SURVEIL-X is part of the Compliancentral platform which unifies communications and trading activity capture, archiving and surveillance in a holistic AI compliance platform for financial markets. To learn more about Actimize Intelligence, SURVEIL-X, or other Compliancentral solutions, please visit our website here. About NICE Actimize As a global leader in artificial intelligence, platform services, and cloud solutions, NICE Actimize excels in preventing fraud, detecting financial crime, and supporting regulatory compliance. Over 1,000 organizations across more than 70 countries trust NICE Actimize to protect their institutions and safeguard assets throughout the entire customer lifecycle. With NICE Actimize, customers gain deeper insights and mitigate risks. Learn more at About NICE With NICE (Nasdaq: NICE), it's never been easier for organizations of all sizes around the globe to create extraordinary customer experiences while meeting key business metrics. Featuring the world's #1 cloud native customer experience platform, CXone, NICE is a worldwide leader in AI-powered self-service and agent-assisted CX software for the contact center – and beyond. Over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, partner with NICE to transform - and elevate - every customer interaction. Trademark Note: NICE and the NICE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NICE Ltd. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. For a full list of NICE's marks, please see: Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including the statements by Mr. Wooten, are based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of NICE Ltd. (the "Company"). In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as "believe," "expect," "seek," "may," "will," "intend," "should," "project," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," or similar words. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those described herein, including but not limited to the impact of changes in economic and business conditions; competition; successful execution of the Company's growth strategy; success and growth of the Company's cloud Software-as-a-Service business; changes in technology and market requirements; decline in demand for the Company's products; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; difficulties in making additional acquisitions or difficulties or delays in absorbing and integrating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel; loss of market share; an inability to maintain certain marketing and distribution arrangements; the Company's dependency on third-party cloud computing platform providers, hosting facilities and service partners; cyber security attacks or other security breaches against the Company; privacy concerns; changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, the effects of additional tax liabilities resulting from our global operations, the effect of unexpected events or geo-political conditions, such as the impact of conflicts in the Middle East that may disrupt our business and the global economy; the effect of newly enacted or modified laws, regulation or standards on the Company and our products and various other factors and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting the company, refer to the Company's reports filed from time to time with the SEC, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise them, except as required by law. View source version on Contacts Corporate Media Contact Cindy Morgan-Olson, +1 646 408 5896, media@ ETInvestors Marty Cohen, +1 551 256 5354, ir@ ETOmri Arens, +972 3 763 0127, ir@ CET Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Wire
29-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Movius and NICE Announce Collaboration to Help Financial Services Firms Maintain Compliance Regulations with Secure Mobile Communications
FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Movius, the leading global provider of secure, AI-powered, purpose-driven communications software, today announced it has partnered with NICE, a leading provider of communication compliance solutions, to integrate its MultiLine™ solution with NICE's NTR-X cloud, compliance recording and assurance solution. With this integration, NICE users in regulated financial services organizations will have even more options to maintain compliance via access to a secure, mobile-first phone experience that allows employees to use their business mobile identity to access Voice, SMS, iMessage, WhatsApp and other capabilities without risk. 'Movius offers users a secure second business number for mobile communications all in one convenient app,' explained Amit Modi, Chief Technology Officer at Movius. 'MultiLine enables employees to communicate with external clients across a variety of secure communications channels, connecting more people from more places. Customers in regulated industries that rely on NICE's NTR-X solution can now benefit from the advanced capabilities in MultiLine.' Noncompliance with off channel communications and lapses in recording and archiving has led to a rise in fines from the SEC, CFTC, and other regulatory bodies. This points to a significant need for solutions that close compliance gaps and ensure all recorded business communications are encrypted and secure. Movius' MultiLine ensures all mobile communications spanning calls, texts, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams and more, are logged without compromising recordkeeping or other regulations. 'Because of stringent regulations and complexities arising from new communication modalities, remote, distributed workforces are widening compliance gaps and placing financial and energy trading firms at risk for fines and reputational damage,' said Chris Wooten, Executive Vice President, NICE. 'NTR-X mobile communications platform integrations allow regulated users to remain in compliance while using mobile applications to communicate with their customers in the ways they prefer. Regardless of location or communication modality, our integration with MultiLine enables regulated firms to cost-effectively manage their entire global recording footprint and support their compliance efforts.' NICE's NTR-X provides financial services firms with the benefit of a central vantage point into all global regulated users and communications. The platform can be deployed globally, while enabling firms to adhere to local capture and recordkeeping requirements. NICE's NTR-X with MultiLine reduces regulatory risk, removing maintenance hurdles and reducing the need for costly, dedicated, local IT resources. To learn more about MultiLine by Movius and the company's full suite of AI-powered solutions, visit About Movius Movius provides Secure Communications as a Service (SCaaS™), offering a complete secure and compliant business mobile solution on any endpoint. Our flagship solution, MultiLine™ is the trusted solution for businesses for voice, SMS, social channels, and can be accessed through endpoints including dedicated dialer and Microsoft Teams™. This mobile communication evolution is what the company calls Phone 3.0™. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices around the world, Movius works with leading global service providers including T-Mobile, TELUS, Telefonica, SingTel, and 3. To learn more visit About NICE With NICE (Nasdaq: NICE), it's never been easier for organizations of all sizes around the globe to create extraordinary customer experiences while meeting key business metrics. Featuring the world's #1 cloud native customer experience platform, CXone, NICE is a worldwide leader in AI-powered self-service and agent-assisted CX software for the contact center – and beyond. Over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, partner with NICE to transform - and elevate - every customer interaction.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney's Office Digitally Transforms Evidence Management with NICE Justice
DA's Office for one of the most populous counties in Texas will deploy NICE's AI-powered solution to ensure justice gets done HOBOKEN, N.J., April 03, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) today announced that the Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney's Office has selected NICE Justice, one of the AI-powered solutions in NICE's Evidencentral platform, to digitally transform evidence management, move cases through the justice system faster, and ensure justice gets done. With approximately one million residents, Hidalgo County is one of the most populous counties in Texas. The cloud-based NICE Justice solution will digitally transform how attorneys and office staff receive, interact with, manage and share digital evidence. Freed from dealing with discs, drives, emails, and logging into multiple systems to manage and prepare evidence, attorneys and staff can focus on building and presenting compelling cases. NICE Justice also features built-in AI and automation capabilities for object detection, automated case building, video and audio transcription and translation, optical character recognition (OCR), analytics and finding evidence connections. Additionally, NICE Justice enables customizable retention of case evidence in a cloud-based solution that is both scalable and secure. Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney Terry Palacios, said, "The Hidalgo County District Attorney's Office is dedicated to seeking the truth and ensuring justice gets done, to giving victims a voice and prosecuting offenders vigorously and fairly. Digital evidence is essential to this mission, but without a system in place to manage our growing digital evidence intake, trial preparation, and comply with discovery obligations, staff can get overwhelmed. With our investment in NICE Justice, we're leading the way in digitally transforming evidence management, to move cases through the justice system faster, and ensure defendants' due process rights are protected through thorough and timely discovery." Chris Wooten, Executive Vice President, NICE, commented, "The manual work of managing digital evidence can slow the pace of justice. Powered by AI, analytics and workflow automation, NICE Justice removes the manual hurdles involved in managing digital evidence, so attorneys can focus on building cases, and get the complete view of the truth that justice demands." With a substantial criminal caseload of 24,000 to 30,000 cases annually, ranging from Class 'B' Misdemeanors to Capital Felony offenses, the Hidalgo County District Attorney's office receives evidence from more than 25 different law enforcement agencies. There is no uniform format or method for submitting evidence and most of it arrives on discs and thumb drives, without needed video players. The office also needs to comply with discovery mandates to share evidence with defense counsel which increases staff workload significantly. The cumbersome process of downloading, uploading and copying digital evidence is repeated thousands of times every week. NICE Justice simplifies and streamlines evidence intake by providing a single, secure online portal for law enforcement agencies to share digital evidence. Uploaded evidence is automatically organized in NICE Justice digital case folders in the cloud to jumpstart case-building. With complete digital evidence consolidated in one place, and the ability to view video and other evidence chronologically on timelines, NICE Justice makes it easy to discover all the facts of a case, to ensure that victims' rights are protected. NICE Justice also features integrated tools to streamline trial preparation, such as the ability to create video clips, redact evidence, and transcribe and translate audio. The solution also provides a secure, seamless and fully trackable method for sharing discovery with defense attorneys, eliminating the need to manually copy evidence onto CDs and disks. To learn more about NICE's digital transformation solutions for Public Safety and Justice: Visit the NICE website by clicking here. Email PSInfo@ for more information. About the Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney's Office Under the leadership of District Attorney Toribio "Terry" Palacios, the Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney's Office is dedicated to providing justice and protecting the people of Hidalgo County, directly impacting the lives of thousands of Hidalgo County families. With jurisdiction over all criminal cases, the Office takes a holistic approach to justice to reduce recidivism. The Office's various divisions are laser-focused on ensuring justice. The Office participates in many events annually to promote awareness of key issues, including human trafficking and domestic violence. Located in the Rio Grande Valley on the US-Mexico border, Hidalgo County is one of the most populous counties in Texas. More info at and NICE Public Safety & Justice With over 3,000 customers and 30 years of experience, NICE helps all types of public safety and criminal justice agencies, from emergency communications and law enforcement to prosecutors and courts, digitally transform how they manage digital evidence and data from beginning to end, to get to the truth faster. NICE's Evidencentral platform features an ecosystem of integrated technologies that bring data together to give a single view of the truth, enabling public safety and justice agencies to do what they do better – whether it's responding to incidents, investigating and building cases, or prosecuting crimes. With comprehensive digital transformation solutions that can be deployed across entire counties and states, NICE also helps everyone work better together, so justice flows more smoothly, from incident to court. About NICE With NICE (Nasdaq: NICE), it's never been easier for organizations of all sizes around the globe to create extraordinary customer experiences while meeting key business metrics. Featuring the world's #1 cloud native customer experience platform, CXone, NICE is a worldwide leader in AI-powered self-service and agent-assisted CX software for the contact center – and beyond. Over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, partner with NICE to transform - and elevate - every customer interaction. Trademark Note: NICE and the NICE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NICE Ltd. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. For a full list of NICE's marks, please see: Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including the statements by Mr. Wooten, are based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of NICE Ltd. (the "Company"). In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as "believe," "expect," "seek," "may," "will," "intend," "should," "project," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," or similar words. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those described herein, including but not limited to the impact of changes in economic and business conditions; competition; successful execution of the Company's growth strategy; success and growth of the Company's cloud Software-as-a-Service business; changes in technology and market requirements; decline in demand for the Company's products; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; difficulties in making additional acquisitions or difficulties or delays in absorbing and integrating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel; loss of market share; an inability to maintain certain marketing and distribution arrangements; the Company's dependency on third-party cloud computing platform providers, hosting facilities and service partners; cyber security attacks or other security breaches against the Company; privacy concerns; changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, the effects of additional tax liabilities resulting from our global operations, the effect of unexpected events or geo-political conditions, such as the impact of conflicts in the Middle East that may disrupt our business and the global economy; the effect of newly enacted or modified laws, regulation or standards on the Company and our products and various other factors and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting the company, refer to the Company's reports filed from time to time with the SEC, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise them, except as required by law. View source version on Contacts Corporate Media Contact Christopher Irwin-Dudek, +1 201 561 4442, media@ ETInvestors Marty Cohen, +1 551 256 5354, ir@ ETOmri Arens, +972 3 763 0127, ir@ CET Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill seeks to rein in sales of THC-infused drinks and edibles in SC
A display of Nowadays THC drinks at a Your CBD store. (Photo courtesy of Dylan Lyons) COLUMBIA— Teenagers in South Carolina can buy drinks infused with THC — the compound in cannabis that gets people high — at gas stations around the state due to a legal gray area that has unintentionally fostered the alcohol-alternatives in a state where marijuana remains illegal. Bipartisan legislation in the House aims to stop that. 'The cow has left the barn on this, and we need to corral it,' GOP Rep. Chris Wooten of Lexington, the main sponsor, recently told the SC Daily Gazette. The industry's growth was made possible by the 2018 federal farm bill, which effectively legalized hemp and very low levels of THC extracted from it. While it specified that delta-9 THC concentrations in hemp up to 0.3% 'on a dry weight basis' were legal, neither it nor a 2019 state law that mirrored the federal language set any parameters for how much of the legal compound could be added to drinks or edibles, such as gummies, or set any age requirements for consumption. They also didn't at all address other THC derivatives from hemp, such as delta-8 and delta-10. Vape shops and CBD stores selling products with those compounds have sprung up statewide since 2018 — sometimes getting the attention of law enforcement but largely left alone. It was the realization that infused drinks were available at gas stations that really got legislators' attention. Now they're trying to make clear what's legal and what's not — without unnecessarily putting people out of business. A House panel opened debate last week on a bill that would ban sales of a 'hemp-derived consumable' to anyone under 21 years old. That part seemed to have widespread support by legislators, makers of infused beverages, and store owners. 'That should be across the board,' Dylan Lyons, the owner of five Your CBD stores in South Carolina, said about setting a legal age. What's drawing the opposition, unsurprisingly, is where to set the limit for infused products. As introduced, the bill limits the level of intoxication in consumables at 0.5 milligrams of delta-9 THC per serving, or 25 milligrams maximum of CBD in gummies, chocolates or other ingestibles. 'That would basically kill us, we'd be out of business. Our employees would be gone,' Lyons said about the proposed milligram limits. He and another owner of Your CBD stores touted the medicinal uses of their products. Jim Olson said he stopped needing even ibuprofen after he started using CBD. For the state's hemp-infused beverage industry, the half-milligram limit on delta-9 products is a killer, said Pierce Wylie, co-founder of Rebel Rabbit made and packaged in Greenville. If that's the per-can limit, customers will simply turn back to alcohol, he said. 'It would eliminate my business,' Wylie told the Gazette last week. Rep. Seth Rose called it hypocritical to put such restrictions on alternatives to alcohol. He noted that a friend of his stopped drinking alcohol but enjoys the occasional hemp-infused drink. His friend's biggest side effect, said the Columbia Democrat, is that he gets tired and goes to bed. 'If you're going to nitpick this one, then we need to have an amendment that starts nitpicking the beer, wine and liquor industry,' he said. The infused beverage industry in South Carolina is relatively new. Other brewers include High Rise Cannabis Dry Bar, which opened on James Island in 2023 and serves both delta-8 and delta-9 drinks. In October, Columbia-based Peak Drift Brewing Co. released its own line of delta-9 seltzers. Their drinks typically have 5 mg to 10 mg of THC per can. Wylie noted that Rebel Rabbit, High Rise and Peak Drift all require consumers to be 21 to buy their products. Drastically decreasing the dosage to less than a milligram would essentially eradicate the hemp beverage market in the state, Wylie said. 'There'd be very few products, probably less than 10% that would be viable with this limit,' he told the House Judiciary subcommittee on Wednesday. The next day, Wooten introduced a new bill that would set the limit of hemp-derived delta-9 THC in beverages at 10 mg. He stressed the effort 'is going to take a lot of work' before anything becomes law. Another piece of the legislation would ban compounds other than delta-9. To be legal, the THC in hemp must be 'extracted or purified from an agricultural product without chemical alteration.' The bill lists 15 chemically created THC derivatives banned outright, including delta-8 and delta-10. Unlike delta-9, they have not been approved for safe consumption by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The federal agency has warned the public about harmful consequences due to use of the unapproved forms of THC. Some argue those compounds are legal because they're not specifically addressed in federal or state law, Todd Hughey, lab director for the State Law Enforcement Division, told the House panel. But they're concerning 'because they are psychoactive substances that need to be studied,' he said. One Horry County lawmaker said he's concerned that hemp-derived THC is being used as a legal substitute for marijuana, which remains illegal in South Carolina. Over the last decade, the Legislature has repeatedly rejected legislation allowing marijuana for medicinal use. 'When we get to the point where we're talking about this to circumvent legalizing marijuana, that's a bad deal for me,' said Rep. William Bailey, R-Little River. The Legislature legalized cannabidiol, or CBD, in 2014 but only for very limited purposes. The non-psychoactive oil extracted from hemp — a marijuana cousin — was specifically supposed to be used by patients certified by a doctor as suffering from severe epilepsy. And proponents of hemp farming touted the plant's usage for a variety of products, including clothing and paper. But then the 2018 federal law overrode the state's limits and opened up the industry. The legal murkiness it created prompted SLED in 2021 to ask the attorney general's office to weigh in on it. In an eight-page legal opinion, Assistant Attorney General David Jones agreed with SLED that the Hemp Farming Act legalized THC very narrowly to allow for the licensed, regulated production of industrial hemp. 'We believe … the Hemp Farming Act does not provide an exception for, and does not legalize, delta-8 THC or any other isomer of THC in itself,' Jones wrote. But he ultimately concluded that it was up to law enforcement and the local prosecutor's office to determine if and when someone was violating the law. When — or whether — the Legislature will add any clarity remains to be seen. The chairman of the House subcommittee said he expects to take testimony for several more weeks. 'Whenever you put money into your business, that becomes your baby,' said Rep. Jeff Johnson, R-Conway. 'We don't want to do something that would adversely affect that without making sure we know exactly what it is going to do.'
