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There may be a path forward for a North Carolina medical marijuana legalization bill to be enacted into law this session if it\u2019s combined with legislation to regulate intoxicating hemp products, the state Senate\u2019s top Republican says. But a Democratic senator also said the bill is going to need broader provisions decriminalizing cannabis possession if it\u2019s going to maintain his support.<\/p>\n
Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R) said he\u2019s had bicameral discussions about the prospect of moving the measure from Sen. Bill Rabon (R) this year with a House bill that would require a license to sell hemp-derived cannabinoids such as CBD, while imposing zoning restrictions for those businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like to deal with not just CBD but medical marijuana,\u201d the senator told CBS 17. \u201cAnd maybe there\u2019s a way we can work something out on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
After clearing the Senate last year, Rabon\u2019s bill moved through a House committee but has not yet advanced to the floor<\/a>. There are hopes it could be revived as a part of a compromise package\u2014but it\u2019s not clear what form it might ultimately take.<\/p>\n While Democrats are more broadly in favor of the reform, Sen. Graig Meyer (D) said any future proposal would need to include \u201csome type of decriminalization language,\u201d in addition to the limited medical cannabis program.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has to include a way for North Carolinians to be part of the industry,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cAnd it has to be clear that the money that\u2019s made from it can be reinvested into neighborhoods and communities that have been hurt most by drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want to change the dialogue about cannabis legalization,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cI want to make it clear that I think the majority of people understand that it\u2019s time for us to legalize it, regulate it, grow it, tax it and to take the benefits from it and reinvest it in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n However, while Meyer said he\u2019d like to see a \u201cgood bipartisan negotiation to get to place that everyone can agree and then put it up for a vote,\u201d he added that he doesn\u2019t believe that\u2019s \u201cvery likely,\u201d which is why \u201cDemocrats should campaign on this\u201d in the lead-up to the November election.<\/p>\n House Majority Leader John Bell (R) said last year that while there were \u201cstill discussions going on\u201d about the medical marijuana bill, he was \u201cvery sure you won\u2019t see that bill move<\/a>\u201d due to insufficient support among Republicans. He said that was \u201cunfortunately\u201d the case.<\/p>\n He predicted that the bill would be taken back up during this year\u2019s legislative session.<\/p>\n A survey of North Carolinians, conducted by the Meredith Poll and published in February, found 78 percent support for lawmakers to pass a medical marijuana bill this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n The current bicameral talks come weeks after a House committee formally recommended that the state regulate the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Rep. Wayne Sasser (R) said \u201cwe\u2019ve got to find a way to stop\u201d sales by unlicensed operators.<\/p>\n Rep. Stephen Ross (R), chair of the committee that made the recommendation, said the issue of whether hemp regulatory legislation could be merged with medical cannabis legalization is a \u201creally a tough question to answer because that\u2019s an ongoing debate.\u201d<\/p>\n A previous version of the North Carolina Compassionate Care Act from Rabon passed the Senate but did not get a vote in the House of Representatives<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n The Senate president previously\u00a0acknowledged that opinions are shifting\u00a0when it comes to marijuana<\/a> in the state, and he said that Rabon specifically \u201cfor a long time has looked at the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 House Speaker Tim Moore (R) is among key lawmakers who have downplayed the idea of enacting medical cannabis legislation, saying at one point that \u201cthere are a lot of concerns\u201d with Rabon\u2019s bill that moved through the Senate.<\/p>\n Rabon also took another step, including medical marijuana regulatory appointments for the yet-to-be-enacted program in\u00a0a separate measure that passed the Senate<\/a>\u00a0last month. But it appears those appointments will be moot this year.<\/p>\n An Indian tribe in North Carolina launched the state\u2019s first medical marijuana dispensary earlier this month\u2014despite the protests of certain Republican congressional lawmakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ted Budd (R-NC) recently asked federal, state and local officials what steps they were taking to enforce marijuana prohibition<\/a> ahead of the tribe\u2019s April 20 launch.<\/p>\n Meanwhile in North Carolina, a state judge recently declared that anyone who\u00a0\u201chas the odor of marijuana\u201d will be barred from entering<\/a>\u00a0the North Carolina Superior Courts of Robeson County.<\/p>\n The order, from Senior Resident Superior Court Judge James Gregory Bell, said that smelling like cannabis is grounds for removal from the courthouse, and the sheriff will be directed to \u201cask you to leave and come back without the odor owns [sic] your persons.\u201d<\/p>\n Marijuana Rescheduling Announcement Coming \u2018Very Soon,\u2019 As Early As This Week, Opposition Group Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Top GOP North Carolina Senator Says Medical Marijuana Bill Could Be Merged With Hemp Regulations Measure As Compromise<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
There may be a path forward for a North Carolina medical marijuana legalization bill to be enacted into law this session if it\u2019s combined with legislation to regulate intoxicating hemp products, the state Senate\u2019s top Republican says. But a Democratic senator also said the bill is going to need broaderContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":74793,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74792"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74792"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74794,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74792\/revisions\/74794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Top GOP North Carolina Senator Says Medical Marijuana Bill Could Be Merged With Hemp Regulations Measure As Compromise<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"