One Step Closer: N.C. Senate Passes Medical Cannabis Legislation

The North Carolina Senate has voted 35-10 to legalize medical marijuana. The vote, which came about on June 2, 2022, places the state one step nearer to becoming a member of the 37 different states (plus D.C.) which have legalized marijuana for medical use.

Each Senate Democrats and Republicans voted to approve SB 711, North Carolina’s Compassionate Care Act, signaling a change of coronary heart for a lot of lawmakers who, up till not too long ago, opposed the measure. Earlier this 12 months, polling discovered that 82% of North Carolina voters favored legalizing medical hashish, no matter occasion affiliation. Whereas it’s unclear if the polling numbers affected lawmakers’ attitudes towards the invoice, Sen. Phil Berger indicated that new circumstances and data led many lawmakers to imagine that “now could be the time to do one thing, that possibly up to now you have been against.” Berger acknowledged that this modification signifies that members of the Senate are “doing what the individuals elected them to do.”

The invoice would legalize marijuana for medical use in North Carolina, permitting sufferers with sure diseases and a doctor’s prescription to buy hashish and cannabis-infused merchandise at state-regulated dispensaries. The invoice would create an advisory committee and a brand new fee below the N.C. Division of Well being and Human Companies that might administer this system. The fee may award as much as 10 medical marijuana licenses to companies to develop and produce marijuana, and every of these 10 companies may function as much as 4 dispensaries.

The measure now heads to the North Carolina Home of Representatives, the place it faces doubtlessly steeper opposition.