As the issue of whether or not to legalize medical marijuana continues to gain attention, one local organization believes marijuana should not be legal.

A summit on Thursday, hosted by Circle Park Behavioral Health Services in Florence, aimed to educate educators, parents and law enforcement about marijuana risks.

The State Law Enforcement Division led that discussion as they were very critical as what many believe are benefits to legalizing medical marijuana.

“I think it’s really important for parents to be talking about it with their kids as well.  I have a 17-year-old and 15-year-old,” said Cindy Averitt.

Averitt is the mother of two high school kids and member of the Florence County Coalition for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Authorities say a man from Richland County died after he choked on a bag of marijuana after a traffic stop.

WIS-TV reports that a review from the prosecutor's office found that Zachary McDaniels died after the bag of marijuana lodged in his throat, cutting off air to his brain. He suffered from a brain injury and cardiac arrest. His family took him off life support on Sept. 6.

The Richland County Sheriff's Office said McDaniels and another man stole a car from a shopping center and deputies tried to pull them over. The men fled on foot, but McDaniels was caught. Authorities say after he was in custody, he started having trouble breathing.

CHARLESTON, SC / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2015 / Kona Gold Solutions, Inc. (OTC Pink: KGKG) (PINKSHEETS: KGKG), is pleased to announce that the Company has acquired newly created Kona Gold LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, from Robert Clark to begin developing its Hemp Product line. Kona Gold will begin developing Hemp Energy Drinks, Energy Patches, Hemp Apparel, Hemp Shampoo as well as a Hydroponics division. Please visit the Company’s new website to view updates and new productswww.konagoldhemp.com

Steve Spurrier spoke on his policies regarding player discipline. (USATSI)

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier went through the ESPN car wash on Tuesday, as have all the SEC coaches this week, and in the morning he joined Mike and Mike for a 10-minute radio spot. Spurrier spoke on the South Carolina quarterback competition and changes to the SEC since he started coaching. He also pumped up his star wide receiver Pharoh Cooper.

The conversation also turned to the topic of discipline for domestic violence cases, something that has unfortunately become a common talking point in college football. Spurrier has discussed this issue plenty of times, including at the 2015 SEC Media Days last week, so the hosts asked him about his zero tolerance rule for hitting girls.

Thanks to last year’s pro-CBD legislation, South Carolina is one of 10+ state in America that allows cannabis oil intake for those with severe ailments (like epilepsy and cancer).

But unlike most of these other states where kids can’t access CBD oils and are dying (see: Wisconsin, New York), South Carolina now has the cure moderately available. The oil aiding South Carolina’s patients in need is called Palmetto Harmony, a locally produced CBD-centric product (that means it doesn’t get anyone high).

An herbal remedy made from the marijuana plant is now being sold legally in South Carolina.

Governor Nikki Haley signed the bill legalizing cannabidiol or CBD oil last June.

Palmetto Harmony, a South Carolina-made CBD product, is now for sale without a prescription at three locations in the state, including Natural Health Pharmacy in Socastee. 

Advocates say the oil shows amazing results for treating things like chronic pain, glaucoma and epileptic seizures.

"We've had a little girl that had 200 seizures a day. She's down to two, which are like twitches now," said Erika Erhenford, co-owner of Natural Health Pharmacy.

The oil contains small amounts of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, but it won't cause anyone to get high.

Because she has seizures every day and slams into the ground, 18-year-old Dixie Pace has worn a helmet since November.

Pace uses cannabidiol oil, an oil derived from marijuana that was legalized in South Carolina last year for certain forms of epilepsy, to reduce her seizures from 50 down to an average of less than 10 a day.

“That’s just one oil,” Pace’s mother, April Pace, said Wednesday during a State House rally, urging the Legislature to legalize medical marijuana. April Pace says access to a different oil extracted from marijuana, or the plant itself, could control further — or possibly stop — Dixie Pace’s seizures.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Supporters of medical marijuana in South Carolina rallied at the Statehouse Wednesday, telling their stories of how they've already been helped by the plant and its extracts. A bill now in the House and a similar one in the Senate would make medical marijuana legal in the state for a number of conditions, including cancer, glaucoma, seizures, autism, and post traumatic stress disorder.

South Carolina - We can't tell you where in South Carolina we are reporting this story. It's down a dirt road, near horses and smack in the middle of a large field.

“I'm building my company here,” Janel Ralph says. “I think it'll be up and running in maybe six months.” She laughs, “But I'm an optimist. I guess I can't say exactly on the timeline.”

Janel Ralph's company is called Palmetto Synergistic Research. She'll be manufacturing hemp cannabis, legally, in South Carolina. She's cultivating them to have specific genetics. What she's making will be high in CBD – the part of the plant that is calming – and to have very little to no THC - the part of the plant that gives you that euphoric “high” feeling.

We know the end is coming, but pot prohibition is going to have to be undone state by state. Here are the ones least likely to jump on the bandwagon.

Marijuana prohibition in the US is dying, but it isn't going to vanish in one fell swoop. Even if Congress were to repeal federal pot prohibition, state laws criminalizing the plant and its users would still be in effect—at least in some states.

And it's probably a pretty safe bet that Congress isn’t going to act until a good number of states, maybe more than half, have already legalized it. That process is already underway and is likely to gather real momentum by the time election day 2016 is over.