North Carolina GOP Senator says that there is an “opportunity” this session to move medical marijuana legislation forward. However, he believes it must be coupled with legislation which restricts unregulated hemp intoxicating products.
The 2025 session is heating up. Senate Pro Tempore Phil Berger, (R), said, “It seems like there’s an occasion to discuss the medical marijuana question,” and hemp-derived cannabinoids, such as delta-8THC, that are sold in the market. “At some point, during the session.”
Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, (D), told Queen City News in an interview that the medical cannabis reform was one of “two very specific and non-partisan” issues that will be addressed by 2025.
Last summer, the state Senate did approve a bill that would legalize medical marijuana—but it stalled out in the House once again.
This legislation is similar to one sponsored by Sen. Bill Rabon, a cancer-survivor and proponent of multiple medical marijuana initiatives. He previously expressed interest in hemp legislation after his latest standalone failed to pass 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 he supported the medical use of marijuana. However, the informal rule within the chamber is that at least 35 GOP members have to back a bill to get it on the floor.
Rep. Destin Hall has expressed opposition to the medical cannabis reform.
Berger said in April last year that he held bipartisan discussions on the possibility of moving Rabon’s medical marijuana measure forward, as part of hemp legislation. However, it is still unclear if the hemp measure will be able to move forward on this path.
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.
John Bell, the former House Majority leader (R), said that in 2023 while “discussions are still going on” regarding medical marijuana legislation, “you won’t be seeing that bill moving” because Republicans did not support it enough. He stated that this was, “unfortunately”, the case.
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 March.
An Indian tribe in North Carolina launched the state’s first medical marijuana dispensary last April—despite the protests of certain Republican congressional lawmakers. The Great Smoky Cannabis Co. opened its doors to adults in Cherokee, North Carolina last April. Within a week of the opening, thousands made purchases from all over the area.
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