CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Compassionate Care Act passed the North Carolina Senate for the third time in three years. It would provide for the sale of cannabis and cannabis-infused products to qualified patients with a debilitating medical condition through a regulated medical cannabis supply system. However, the bill continues to stall in the House.
In addition, a recent Supreme Court ruling is impacting the path to rescheduling cannabis as a Schedule III substance. Rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III substance would, among other things, acknowledge its medical use. That would translate to a small but significant step in legalizing it in North Carolina.
When the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opened the only dispensary for medical marijuana in North Carolina back in April, many Charlotte hemp business owners expressed a renewed sense of optimism for the legal use of medical marijuana.
However, Natacha Andrews, the CEO of Charlotte-based National Association of Black Cannabis Lawyers, pointed out that it can operate here because it is independent of state law.
"That seems rather hypocritical for us to say, 'Look what we did in North Carolina,' because we didn't do this," Andrews said. "It's a sovereign nation. So, they have the absolute right to do that."
Andrews said most people believe it should be legalized, adding that some lawmakers continue to stand behind what she calls the "stigma wall."
"Here in North Carolina, that's over 80% of people polled have said medicinally, cannabis should be legal," Andrews said. "Some of the exclusion is self-exclusion. 'I don't want to be associated with this because I've learned through my church, through my family, through my school, that this is the road to hell, or this is something that bad people, uneducated people, people of low worth do. This is not something I want for myself.' "
The latest medical marijuana bill aims to provide relief for patients suffering from serious medical conditions such as cancer, epilepsy, and PTSD. The bill has received bipartisan support in the North Carolina General Assembly including from North Carolina state Senator Bill Rabon, who attributed the illicit use of cannabis with surviving colon cancer.
"That's the only reason I'm alive today," Rabon said.
Other state lawmakers, including Rabon's fellow republican senator, Jim Burgin, explained marijuana is not medicine.
"It's not FDA approved," Burgin said. "Federal government doesn't recognize it. It is still on the controlled substance list. And I have some real problems with it."
The senator added that if marijuana were to be moved to the approved list of drugs, he would still limit how it's administered.
"I have conceded that, if we would promote drops, nebulizers, or even suppositories," he said. "There's all kinds of ways that you can administer it."
North Carolina could make more than $15 million in the first year of legalized medical marijuana, according to estimates within the bill itself. That money would come from application fees along with 10% of the gross revenue.
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Burgin said money is not the point.
"If we're doing it for health reasons, and we're really concerned about people's health and posttraumatic stress and all that, why would we want to make profit off of it?"
Andrews said it's not a matter of whether marijuana will be legal. For her, it's a question of when.
"The way that I work with people within the state is to prepare them for what's to come," she said. "It may not come in six months but this is an inevitability. As the globe sort of moves towards this recognition of what cannabis is, and how it can be beneficial in the lives of many, many people. It's something we're going to have to recognize, and it's better to be prepared."
After the North Carolina General Assembly's short session ended in June, the latest version of the medical marijuana bill remains stalled in the House.
House Speaker Tim Moore said they need 37 GOP votes from the House for any bill to be brought to the floor for a vote. They still have not met that number.
Contact Jane Monreal at jmonreal@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.