NC medical marijuana legalization resurfaces, this time paired with a ban on 3 other drugs
In another attempt at passing medical marijuana in North Carolina, state senators tacked on new language on legalization to a bill regulating hemp and banning other drugs.
During a Senate judiciary committee Wednesday, Sen. Michael Lazzara, a Republican from Onslow County, called for an amendment adding what appears to be the entirety of the language of the NC Compassionate Care Act to House Bill 563.
The Compassionate Care Act would allow medical marijuana use statewide for people who have cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments. It also establishes a licensing system.
This is not the first time the Senate has attempted to force a vote on medical marijuana.
Last year, Senate Republicans attempted to revive the Compassionate Care Act . The marijuana bill was added as an amendment to a House bill up for a vote on the Senate floor.
The House bill with the amendment passed the Senate but did not pass the House. House Speaker Tim Moore said there was not enough support from House members to move the bill forward.
A similar iteration of the Compassionate Care Act also passed the Senate in 2022 but languished in the House.
The latest move comes as House and Senate Republicans are locked in a standoff over the budget. The House was set to approve a budget proposal that is expected to stall in the Senate, as Republicans in both chambers continue to try to negotiate a potential spending deal.
Regulating hemp and marijuana
HB 563, in addition to now legalizing medical marijuana, would prohibit the sale to and purchase of hemp and hemp-derived products by a person under 21. It also would add kratom, xylazine and tianeptine to the state’s list of controlled substances.
Sen. Bill Rabon, a main sponsor of the Compassionate Care Act, said Wednesday the attempt to add his bill to this one probably did not come “as a shock to anyone.”
“We have been working diligently on the hemp bill, 563,” said Rabon, a Brunswick County Republican, “and our plan has been to regulate...a possibly dangerous and unregulated product.”
“At the same time, for the better part of the last decade, we have been trying to get a bill (with) highly controlled (medical marijuana) across the finish line.”
The bills being combined “are very closely related,” he said, referring to the chemical similarity between hemp and marijuana, which both stem from the cannabis plant.
In 2018, the federal government removed hemp — defined as a derivative of cannabis with less than 0.3% of delta-9 THC — from the definition of marijuana. In 2022, North Carolina followed suit in legalization of hemp.
The bill passed the judiciary committee and now moves to the rules committee.
Should it pass the Senate, it’s unclear whether it’ll get backing in the House.
Under the Dome
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