Politics
North Carolina Governor And House Speaker Clash On Marijuana Legalization
North Carolina’s Democratic governor and Republican House speaker have a disagreement on marijuana legalization.
Gov. Josh Stein (D), who supports legalizing cannabis, said in a new interview that “we need to have a well-regulated market that puts public safety and public health at its center.”
“It protects kids, and it is available for adult use—because adults are using it, and we can’t put our heads in the sand any longer,” he said.
House Speaker Destin Hall (R), however, said, “I know our caucus has no interest in doing any sort of marijuana, medicinal or otherwise.”
Both leaders’ comments were reported by local news outlet The Assembly, which has been tracking efforts this session to pass legislation to regulate intoxicating hemp products.
A commission that Stein empaneled last year recently issued a report recommending that rather than have separate frameworks for hemp and marijuana, the state should regulate THC as a molecule.
“There actually used to be a distinction in the law,” the governor said in the new interview. “The two plants, naturally grown, had different THC levels. You’d smoke hemp, it would take a whole lot to get you high—and it might not. Once hemp was legalized, both growers and sellers realized you could genetically modify hemp plants and increase the level of THC.”
“Cannabis is cannabis,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to try to distinguish between two varieties of the same plant, and what we really care about is, is this product going to get you high or not? That’s why we must regulate the THC molecule.”
The comments come as a bill to restrict hemp and kratom products that was recently approved by the Senate awaits potential action in the House.
“Our caucus is looking at it,” Hall told reporters, The Assembly noted. “It’s a somewhat complicated bill.”
“Generally, our caucus’ desire is to make sure that we’re keeping the bad products out and not letting people under 21 buy these products,” the speaker said. “Folks basically wanted some time to be able to review it. So we’ll see if it’s something that we do when we come back” later this month.
It’s not clear if Stein would sign a bill that restricts hemp products and doesn’t contain provisions to more fulsomely legally regulate marijuana in line with the state commission’s recommendations.
He acknowledged, however, that getting Hall and other Republicans to come around to backing cannabis legalization wouldn’t be easy—though he also pointed to how views can evolve over time,.
“People change,” the governor said. “Society changes. I can remember when you couldn’t buy alcohol here in the supermarket on a Sunday, and you couldn’t buy wine in a supermarket at all, and you couldn’t get mixed drinks in the majority of the counties in North Carolina. What I’m trying to do is advance the conversation.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers in North Carolina have been considering legislation to legalize medical cannabis for the last several sessions—with the Senate approving several proposals and the House refusing to follow suit.
“Some of the House members are not ready to pass a medical program because they believe that it will usher in recreational use, and that is not what the constituents in those districts want,” Rep. Jeffrey McNeely (R), told The Assembly.
Meanwhile, North Carolina’s Senate president pro tempore recently said that lawmakers will take a more serious look at legalizing medical marijuana following the Trump administration’s move to reschedule cannabis at the federal level.
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The governor-appointed cannabis commission in North Carolina issued a report in April recommending that the state move away from a criminalization-based approach to the plant and toward a system of “robust” regulations that provide for adults’ legal access to THC products.
The North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis, which Stein convened last year, says in the new document approved in April that the current “absence of regulation for North Carolina’s intoxicating cannabis market raises numerous concerns,” noting that hemp products are readily available yet largely unregulated and that marijuana remains prohibited altogether in the state, even for medical use.
“Compared to regulated marijuana frameworks in other states, this environment presents identifiable risks,” the interim report says. “While some operators voluntarily implement consumer protection protocols, these safeguards are not required under state law.”
Stein, for his part, thanked the group for its “expertise, hard work, and thoughtful deliberation” in a press release and reiterated his support for legalizing marijuana.
Members are tasked with developing and submitting initial recommendations on a “comprehensive cannabis policy, including any proposed legislation,” with a final report due by December 31 of this year.
During his time as the state’s 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 in response to racially disparate enforcement trends.
A tribe in North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, launched the state’s first marijuana dispensary in 2024—despite the protests of certain Republican congressional lawmakers.
Democratic lawmakers recently filed legislation to allow voters to decide whether to legalize marijuana for personal or medical use at the ballot box this November—though Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R) said the bill is unlikely to advance.
Meanwhile, bipartisan North Carolina lawmakers have been stepping up the push for psychedelics reform legislation.
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
