North Carolina’s Senate President stated this week there is little chance that lawmakers will pass legislation to legalize marijuana for recreational use this session. However, he said progress could be made on medical cannabis.
Senate President Phil Berger, R, said for the time being that his chamber, who has already passed medical cannabis bills during previous sessions, would defer to their colleagues in House of Representatives.
“I don’t know that the Senate will be passing anything initially in this session,” he said in a recent interview with local TV news outlet WXII 12, in Raleigh. “I believe we are going to watch and see what is passed by the House.”
North Carolina is set to legalize marijuana through two bills introduced this year. The Senate’s S350 bill would establish a medical marijuana system and an adult-use marijuana system, while the House H413 measure would only legalize recreational marijuana.
Burger stated in an interview with WXII-TV recently that full-scale legalization of marijuana is not possible. He did, however, note that the Senate would probably support a medical-only measure.
“I see no chance for full legalization of marijuana recreational use,” said he. “I think that medical marijuana is still being discussed.” There have been a few times when the Senate passed legislation on medical marijuana, and there are still majorities in favor of such legislation.
As the sessions progress in the coming weeks, advocates say that the future path is expected to be more clear.
Kevin Caldwell of the Marijuana Policy Project’s Southeast Regional Legislative Director said that “he was surprised to see no bill relating strictly to medical cannabis this session.”
“I believe there was hope that a Bill would be passed by the House,” said he, “as this has been the biggest stumblingblock over the past several years.”
Caldwell pointed out there is “still a lot of work to be done in North Carolina [legislative] He said he was “looking forward to the session of this year” and that he is keeping an eye out for lawmakers such as Senator Bill Rabon, who he called “very committed to getting patients access in his state.”
Rabon’s role as chair of the Senate Rules Committee has made medical marijuana legalization a priority issue for him in previous years. The Senate has passed his bills several times, but they have sat in the House for years.
House Speaker Destin Hall, a Republican from the House of Representatives (R), said about a month earlier that Republicans could consider legalizing medical marijuana during this legislative session. He did not mention any upcoming House bills. Instead, he suggested that legislation will come from the Senate.
In a wide-ranging interview with the The News & Observer, the publication reported that Hall “said House Republicans could be more open to what the Senate sends over to them” than they have in past sessions.
Cannabis reform seems to have the support of voters. A poll published in February found that 71 percent of likely voters in North Carolina support legalizing medical marijuana in the state, with majorities across party lines and in every surveyed demographic—aside from people over the age of 80—in favor.
Berger stated earlier this year “it appears that there’s a chance to address medical marijuana issues” as well as cannabinoids derived from hemp “at some time during the session.”
Last summer, the state Senate approved a bill that would legalize medical marijuana—but it stalled out in the House once again.
This legislation is similar to one sponsored by Rabon, who was a cancer-survivor and has sponsored several medical marijuana initiatives. The senator previously described his interest in using the hemp legislation as a potential vehicle after his most recent standalone died in the House.
Senator has stated that his personal experiences are the reason for his support of this legislation. As he’s previously disclosed, Rabon said his doctor advised him to use marijuana before he went through serious chemotherapy, and he visited his local law enforcement to tell them that he intended to break the law to use the plant for therapy.
The former House Speaker Tim Moore, (R), said in a statement last year that although he personally supported the legalization medical marijuana there was an informal rule within the chamber that required at least 37 GOP Members to support a bill before it could be brought to the floor.
Hall, the current House Speaker, in his past statements, expressed opposition to medical marijuana reform.
Rabon’s standalone legislation moved through the Senate and was taken up by a House committee last year, but it did not advance further in that chamber.
Former House Majority Leader John Bell (R) said in 2023 that while there were “still discussions going on” about medical marijuana legislation, he was “very sure you won’t see that bill move” due to insufficient support among Republicans. He called it “unfortunately”.
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 in 2022.
The Senate president previously acknowledged that opinions are shifting when it comes to marijuana in the state, and he said that Rabon specifically “for a long time has looked at the issue.”
Rabon also took another step, including medical marijuana regulatory appointments for the yet-to-be-enacted program in a separate measure that passed the Senate last year.
An Indian tribe in North Carolina launched the state’s first medical marijuana dispensary last April—despite the protests of certain Republican congressional lawmakers. More than a week after legal marijuana sales kicked off to all adults at The Great Smoky Cannabis Co. in Cherokee last year, thousands from across the region made purchases.
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Philip Steffan is the photographer.