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The governor of North Carolina has come out in support of legalizing marijuana and is convening a bipartisan commission to study the issue in hopes of moving the GOP-controlled legislature to act on reform.<\/p>\n
Gov. Josh Stein (D) said during an interview with WRAL News that was published on Tuesday that he wants to see the largely unregulated market for intoxicating hemp products reined in to prevent youth access and support public safety\u2014but believed that adults should be able to buy cannabis products from licensed retailers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are an adult and that\u2019s the choice you want to make, you should be able to make that choice,\u201d Stein said. \u201cI do not have all of the answers. I have some philosophical views on matters, but there are real, complicated, practical implications of every decision you make.\u201d<\/p>\n
To navigate those complicated questions, the governor has issued an executive order to create the North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis\u2014comprised of up to 30 members, including lawmakers, law enforcement officials, agriculture industry stakeholders, health experts, tribal representatives, advocates and others to explore possible regulatory models for adult-use marijuana and hemp.<\/p>\n
The order says there\u2019s a need for reform because the \u201ccurrent lack of regulation, including age, potency, and purity limitations, poses a threat to all North Carolinians, particularly our youth.\u201d And \u201crather than allowing this unsafe and unregulated market to continue, smart and balanced regulation presents an opportunity not only to protect the health and well-being of our people, but also to generate revenue that can benefit our state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The panel will be required to hold its first meeting in July and then convene at least every other month through December 2026. Members will be tasked with developing and submitting initial recommendations on a \u201ccomprehensive cannabis policy, including any proposed legislation\u201d to the governor by May 15, 2026. Final recommendations will be due by December 31, 2026.<\/p>\n
The report would need to look at youth prevention strategies, deterring impaired driving, promoting public education around cannabis, supporting criminal justice reforms such as expungements for people with prior records and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really ironic that in some ways, the most liberal, pro-marijuana adult-use state in the country is North Carolina,\u201d he said, referencing the currently unregulated consumable hemp market. \u201cIt\u2019s not Colorado, it\u2019s not Massachusetts, it\u2019s not these states that legalized it and then created a regulatory structure to sell it. It\u2019s North Carolina, where we have no rules whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the wild West out there,\u201d he said. \u201cThe idea that we have a system where this product\u2014which is a drug that can get you high\u2014is for sale out there without any restrictions on how it\u2019s sold, to me, is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nRather than sticking to the status quo, the governor said the state should move to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older. That would represent a significant policy change for North Carolina, which is one of the rare remaining examples of a state without a comprehensive medical cannabis program.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur state\u2019s unregulated cannabis market is the Wild West and is crying for order,\u201d Stein said<\/a> in a press release on Wednesday. \u201cLet\u2019s get this right and create a safe, legal market for adults that protects kids.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want to thank members of the General Assembly for their interest in addressing this gaping loophole in state law,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s work together on a thoughtful, comprehensive solution that allows sales to adults and that is grounded in public safety and health. We can work together and get this right.\u201d<\/p>\n During his time as the state\u2019s attorney general, Stein led a separate task force under then-Gov. Roy Cooper (D) that examined racial injustice issues and ultimately recommended decriminalizing marijuana and studying broader legalization<\/a> in response to racially disparate enforcement trends.<\/p>\n In recent sessions, multiple limited medical marijuana legalization bills advanced through the Senate<\/a>, only to stall out in the House.<\/p>\n But Stein is making the case that moving forward on comprehensive recreational reform would help avoid issues that other states have experienced transitioning from medical to adult-use marijuana markets.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m aware of how different states have wrestled with it. I\u2019ve heard from regulators that the states that start with a medical marijuana system and then come later with an adult recreational use system end up having pretty irrational systems because the regulatory regime for one is very different than the regulatory regime for the other,\u201d the governor said<\/a> in the WRAl interview.<\/p>\n That position might put one of the advisory council\u2019s appointed members, Sen. Bill Rabon (R), in an awkward place, as the senator has long championed bipartisan medical marijuana legalization legislation and insisted it should not be viewed as a step toward adult-use legalization.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we can have one system,\u201d Stein said. \u201cA cannabis control system where we know what\u2019s in the product so that people know what they can take and what they can tolerate and what they can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m bringing in folks from both parties, both chambers [to the council],\u201d the governor added, \u201cso we can have a shared understanding of what is happening, a shared appreciation for how other states are dealing with it and then a shared strategy of what North Carolina should do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdults should be able to use cannabis with intoxicating THC if they want. I do support that. But what I really support is making sure that kids cannot buy it, and by law today in North Carolina, they can. That is absolutely unacceptable to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Another member of the committee will be Rep. John Bell (R), who is also president of the hemp company Asterra Labs that produces consumable CBD products.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in the House, Rep. Aisha Dew (D) filed a bill in April that would legalize medical marijuana for patients with a variety of specified conditions<\/a>, including cancer, epilepsy, HIV\/AIDS, Parkinson\u2019s disease, PTSD, end-of-life care and other serious ailments.<\/p>\n The North Carolina Compassionate Care Act is considerably more detailed than a separate Democrat-led medical cannabis bill introduced earlier that month that would allow access only for patients enrolled in a \u201cregistered research study.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Advocates had been awaiting House introduction of a comprehensive bill, especially since Senate President Phil Berger (R) said his chamber is deferring to the House to move first on medical marijuana reform this session<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two other measures introduced so far this session would legalize cannabis in North Carolina. In the Senate, S350 would create medical and adult-use marijuana systems, while H413 in the House would legalize only recreational marijuana.<\/p>\n \u2014 House Speaker Destin Hall (R) said in early March that\u00a0Republicans in his chamber could be willing to consider medical marijuana legalization this session<\/a>. But he didn\u2019t indicate any forthcoming House bills, instead suggesting legislation would come from the Senate.<\/p>\n Voters, for their part, seem to be on board with cannabis reform. A poll published in February found that\u00a071 percent of likely voters in North Carolina support legalizing medical marijuana in the state<\/a>, with majorities across party lines and in every surveyed demographic\u2014aside from people over the age of 80\u2014in favor.<\/p>\n Former House Speaker Tim Moore (R) said last year that while he personally supports legalizing medical marijuana, there is an informal rule in the chamber that at least 37 GOP members must back any given bill in order to bring it to the floor.<\/p>\n The current House speaker, Hall, has in the past voiced opposition to medical cannabis reform.<\/p>\n Former House Majority Leader John Bell (R) said in 2023 that while there were \u201cstill discussions going on\u201d about medical marijuana legislation,\u00a0he 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 An Indian tribe in North Carolina launched the state\u2019s first medical marijuana dispensary last April\u2014despite the protests of certain Republican congressional lawmakers<\/a>.\u00a0More than a week after legal marijuana sales kicked off to all adults at The Great Smoky Cannabis Co. in Cherokee last year,\u00a0thousands from across the region made purchases<\/a>.<\/p>\n Maine Senate Passes Psilocybin Bill That Would Legalize Possession, But Not Sales, Of The Psychedelic<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post North Carolina Governor Backs Marijuana Legalization And Forms A Bipartisan Commission To Craft A Plan<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The governor of North Carolina has come out in support of legalizing marijuana and is convening a bipartisan commission to study the issue in hopes of moving the GOP-controlled legislature to act on reform. Gov. Josh Stein (D) said during an interview with WRAL News that was published on TuesdayContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":81502,"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\/81501"}],"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=81501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81503,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81501\/revisions\/81503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: North Carolina Governor Backs Marijuana Legalization And Forms A Bipartisan Commission To Craft A Plan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"