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North Carolina Senate Approves Medical Pot Bill

March 2, 2023 Published by

The North Carolina Senate this week approved a bill to legalize marijuana, bringing the measure one step away from heading to the state House of Representatives for consideration. The bill, titled the North Carolina Compassionate Care Act (Senate Bill 3), passed handily with little debate in the state Senate on Tuesday by a vote of 36-10. The bipartisan bill was introduced on January 25 by Republican Senators Bill Rabon and Michael Lee and Democratic Senator Paul Lowe. 

“The purpose of the bill is to allow for tightly regulated use of medical cannabis, only by those with debilitating illnesses,” Rabon said on the Senate floor before Tuesday’s vote. 

“The recreational sale or use of marijuana remains, under this legislation, illegal,” he added.

If signed into law, the bill would legalize the medicinal use of cannabis for patients with one or more specified qualifying serious medical conditions such as cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and others. Unlike the more comprehensive medical marijuana programs in many other states, however, the bill does not legalize the use of medical marijuana by patients diagnosed with chronic pain.

Before the bill was approved last week by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the sponsors of the bill emphasized that the measure does not legalize recreational marijuana. Instead, the intent of the legislation “is to only make changes to existing state law that are necessary to protect patients and their doctors from criminal and civil penalties and would not intend to change current civil and criminal laws for the use of non-medical marijuana,” Rabon told reporters on February 21.

Under the bill, patients with a qualifying “debilitating medical condition” would be allowed to use medical marijuana. The bill permits the smoking and vaping of medical cannabis by patients whose doctors have recommended a specific form and dosage of medical marijuana. Physicians would be required to review a patient’s continued eligibility for the medical marijuana program annually. Smoking medical cannabis in public or near schools and churches would not be legal under the measure.

The bill requires patients and qualified caregivers to obtain a medical marijuana identification card from the state. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services would be responsible for creating “a secure, confidential, electronic database containing information about qualified patients, designated caregivers, and physicians,” according to the text of the measure. The bill also creates an 11-member advisory panel appointed by the governor and lawmakers to review proposals for new qualifying medical conditions.

North Carolina Bill Establishes Oversight Commission

Additionally, the legislation establishes a Medical Cannabis Production Commission to oversee medical cannabis producers and ensure a sufficient supply of medical marijuana is produced for the state’s registered patients. The legislation authorizes the licensing of up to 10 businesses to grow, process, and sell cannabis, and permits each producer to operate up to eight medical marijuana dispensaries. Under the bill, the state would levy a 10% tax on the monthly revenue of each medicinal cannabis producer. The bill also requires regulators to establish a tracking system to monitor the production, movement, and sale of cannabis products from cultivator to consumer. 

“Those suppliers must meet strict requirements for how to locate and operate their facilities, how to grow their cannabis and how to package and sell their inventory,” Rabon said on the Senate floor. “They must track every product from seed to sale.”

Only one lawmaker, Republican Senator Jim Burgin, spoke against the measure on Tuesday, saying that “marijuana is not medicine” and has not been approved for medicinal use by the federal government. 

“It’s bad for kids,” Burgin said. ”I think this bill sets up big government, and I think it can easily be changed to legalize marijuana” for recreational use, he added.

Senate leader Phil Berger, one of the 16 Republicans who voted for the measure, praised Rabon and the other sponsors of the bill for their work to gain consensus among their colleagues before the bill came up for a vote by the full Senate.

“The lack of debate on the floor really is a reflection on how much work Senator Rabon and the other sponsors have done over the past two years in just making people aware of what the bill does, answering questions, modifying the language,” Berger said.

Senate Bill 3 still faces one more vote in the North Carolina Senate before heading to the state House of Representatives for consideration. Republican House Speaker Tim Moore said the bill has some support in the House, according to a report from the Associated Press. If passed by both chambers of the legislature, the bill would head to the desk of Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, who has indicated support for legalizing medical marijuana and decriminalizing possession of small amounts of cannabis by adults.

The post North Carolina Senate Approves Medical Pot Bill appeared first on High Times.

North Carolina Lawmakers Renew Medical Cannabis Push

February 17, 2023 Published by

The North Carolina General Assembly will once again play host to a debate over medical cannabis legalization, as supporters hope the 2023 session turns out better than last year.

Local news station WNCN reports that a “bipartisan group in the state Senate is trying again this year to pass a bill legalizing medical marijuana, as new polling this week shows popular support,” and that, on Wednesday, the state Senate Judiciary Committee discussed the proposal, “which is largely similar to a bill the chamber passed last year but that the House never considered.”

“There’s hardly a family in this state or in this nation that hasn’t been touched at some point by someone who would benefit from this bill,” said Republican Sen. Bill Rabon, a sponsor of the measure, as quoted by WNCN.

The bill, titled the “North Carolina Compassionate Care Act,” would make medical cannabis treatment available to patients with the following qualifying conditions: “Cancer; Epilepsy; Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDs); Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); Crohn’s disease; Sickle cell anemia; Parkinson’s disease; Post-traumatic stress disorder … Multiple sclerosis; Cachexia or wasting syndrome; Severe or persistent nausea in a person who is not pregnant that is related to end-of-life or hospice care, or who is bedridden or homebound because of a condition; A terminal illness when the patient’s remaining life expectancy is less than six months; [or] A condition resulting in the individual receiving hospice care.”

Patients who have “experienced one or more traumatic events” may also qualify for the treatment, per the language of the bill, which says that “[a]cceptable evidence shall include, but is not limited to, proof of military service in an active combat zone, that the person was the victim of a violent or sexual crime, or that the person was a first responder.”

The bill says that details of the trauma “shall not be required.” 

Republicans hold majorities in both the state Senate and House of Representatives. Last year, a virtually identical medical cannabis legalization bill passed out of the state Senate, but ultimately failed to advance out of the state House. 

North Carolina is one of the few remaining states where both medical and recreational pot are still illegal. 

The state’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, has expressed his support for both. 

“Conviction of simple possession can mar people’s records for life and maybe even prevent them from getting a job,” Cooper said in October, following President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon individuals with federal convictions of simple marijuana possession.

In his announcement at the time, Biden urged “all Governors to do the same with regard to state offenses.”

“As I often said during my campaign for President, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit. Criminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. And while white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates,” Biden said in a statement at the time.

Cooper echoed the president’s sentiments.

“North Carolina should take steps to end this stigma,” Cooper said.

There is reason to believe that voters in the Tar Heel State are ready for lawmakers to take action. 

As WNCN noted, a “poll this week by Meredith College found 73 percent of voters support legalizing medical marijuana while 15 percent oppose it and 12 percent said they were unsure.”

The post North Carolina Lawmakers Renew Medical Cannabis Push appeared first on High Times.

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Sends Medical Pot Regulations to N.C. Assembly

January 19, 2023 Published by

According to the Citizen Times, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Council met on Jan. 12 and successfully voted to introduce the tribe’s medical cannabis regulations to the North Carolina General Assembly. The resolution states that this is done with the intention “to further the agenda effectively and efficiently coordinating in the administration of medical cannabis laws across the jurisdictions of the state of North Carolina and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.”

EBCI Chief Richard Sneed addressed the Tribal Council at the meeting, which consists of 12 members, about the necessity of keeping in communication with lawmakers in North Carolina. “All this is, is it as a matter of tribal law, before anybody does any work engaging with the state or federal legislature, we have to have permission of the governing legislative body to do so,” Sneed said.

“Any tribal council member—chief or vice chief—who engages in Raleigh or in D.C., we need essentially marching orders to do so. As this next legislative session in Raleigh gets started and we’re down there doing lobbying work, this just grants permission for us to talk to them about medical cannabis, and the subsequent North Carolina law that will probably be on the floor during the next general assembly.”

In August 2021, the EBCI Council voted 8 to 4 to legalize medical cannabis. Over one year later in November 2022, the EBCI announced that they harvested their first medical cannabis crop, and also began accepting job applications for the tribe’s medical cannabis dispensary, which is being operated by Qualla Enterprises LLC and is set to open sometime in 2023.

The EBCI Council voted in December 2022 to give Qualla Enterprises $63 million. According to Qualla Enterprises General Manager Forrest Parker, the tribe will be able to properly regulate its business. “It gives us a lot of confidence that we’re surrounded by people that have done this so many times, that have the experience, that have the understanding,” said Parker. “This tribe, I’m so proud of us for putting us in a position to learn from other people’s mistakes so that when we do this right, that number is precise. It’s not $150 million because we’re trying to cover all these things that we don’t know. We actually feel like we actually know.”

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The EBCI is also funding its own Cannabis Control Board to manage the business, including licensing, audits, annual reports, and more. One control board member, David Wijewickrama, who is also an attorney, shed some light on what to expect in 2023. “There are a lot of moving parts to this project that we’re learning every day,” Wijewickrama said. “The tribe’s given us a lot of resources to ensure this process succeeds.”

As for nearby states with cannabis, only Alabama and Virginia offer medical cannabis programs. Once the EBCI dispensary opens, it will only allow patients who have a tribe medical cannabis card to purchase cannabis. Those patients must also be approved as suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (such as AIDS, anxiety disorders, cancer, or glaucoma), a medical condition that causes wasting syndrome, muscle spasms (such as those caused by multiple sclerosis), and chronic pain, as well as neuropathic conditions or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Cardholders will be allowed to purchase one ounce (or about 2,500 milligrams of THC) or less per day, and no more than six ounces (or 10,000 milligrams of THC) per month. This particular limitation will be enacted until at least August 2024. After that time, the board can review and change the rules.

The EBCI is just one of many tribes looking to take part in the medical and/or adult-use cannabis industry. In New York, the Oneida Indian Nation announced last year that it was seeking to launch a seed-to-sale cannabis business in 2023, while the Saint Regis (Akwesasne) Mohawk Tribe partnered with actor Jim Belushi to open a dispensary in October 2022. This is followed by the Seneca Nation of Indians, which seeks to open a dispensary in Niagara Falls in February 2023.

Across the country in San Diego, the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel currently operates its own dispensary, called Mountain Source Santa Ysabel. The Las Vegas Paiute Tribe owns a dispensary called NuWu Cannabis Marketplace.
The Lower Sioux Indian Community recently announced that it will build a hemp processing facility with the goal of creating a hempcrete test home. “There are 20,000 uses for the plant. I can’t think of a better one for our community members than to give them a home that will last forever,” said Lower Sioux Tribal Council Vice President, Earl Pendleton.

The post Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Sends Medical Pot Regulations to N.C. Assembly appeared first on High Times.

Cannabis Legalization Could Make New Strides in 2023

January 16, 2023 Published by

The effort to reform the nation’s cannabis laws made new strides in 2022 with the passage of recreational marijuana legalization ballot measures in Maryland and Missouri in the November midterm elections. Success was not universal, however, as similar propositions on the ballot in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota failed to gain the approval of voters. 

Looking at 2023, new milestones have already been achieved this year, with Connecticut launching regulated retail sales of adult-use cannabis on January 10, a move that was preceded by the expungement of nearly 43,000 marijuana-related convictions in the state at the dawn of the new year. And as we head further into 2023, several states across the country are likely to make new ground in the struggle to end cannabis prohibition.

A New Focus

Brian Vicente, a founding partner at the cannabis and psychedelics law firm, Vicente Sederberg LLP, says that despite spending millions of dollars on lobbying federal lawmakers in 2022, the efforts of cannabis activists were unable to result in the passage of any meaningful marijuana policy reform at the next level. With the change in the political climate in Washington, D.C., efforts this year will take a new focus.

“With Republicans taking over the House, any federal reform in the two years seems exceedingly unlikely. Fortunately, movement leaders have begun coalescing around a strategy to cut back on federal lobbying and instead push resources toward state-level reform,” Vicente said in an email. “These efforts are aiming to flip as many as 10 states to adult-use in just three years, which would not only open new markets for consumers, but also create intense pressure on Congress to pass legislation aligning federal law with the thirty-odd states where cannabis is legal for adults.”

As the new year begins, more than a half-dozen states are likely to consider legislation to reform their marijuana laws, with most activity centering in the South and Midwest regions. Outside those broad areas, Hawaii could be poised to make progress on the issue with a new governor at the helm, Democrat Josh Green, who included support for expanding the state’s current legalization of medical marijuana to include adult-use cannabis as part of his campaign for office last year. On January 11, Democratic state Rep. Jeanné Kapela announced her plans to introduce a recreational marijuana legalization bill, saying, “this year, we stand on the precipice of history.”

“We now have a roadmap for legalizing recreational cannabis in our islands,” Kapela said in a statement quoted by Marijuana Moment. “Legalizing cannabis is not just a matter of money, it is a matter of moralities.”

Snowden Stieber, a regulatory analyst with cannabis compliance technology firm Simplifya, notes that the bill has some hurdles to clear before it can get to Green’s desk, however.

“The Hawaii Senate President, Ron Kouchi, has already come out with statements expressing skepticism on any fast movement for cannabis legalization, and many elected officials are still waiting on the upcoming report from the Dual Use of Cannabis Task Force to guide their votes in the new year,” he said in an email. “While it is of course possible that the task force recommends full legalization, prior experience in other states would suggest that legislators will take their time with any report’s findings and that a sudden move toward legalization is unlikely.”

The South

Vicente believes three states in the South—Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina—could pass legislation to legalize medical marijuana this year. With the nearby states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida already demonstrating that a regulated marijuana industry can provide jobs and tax revenue, other states in the region are likely not far behind.

South Carolina, where Rep. Nancy Mace has become one of the few Republicans in Congress advocating for cannabis policy reform at the national level, is one of the few remaining states that still hasn’t legalized marijuana in any form. But reform is popular with the state’s residents, with a Winthrop University poll conducted before last year’s midterm elections showing that more than 75% of voters support the legalization of medical cannabis. This year, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have pre-filed separate medical marijuana legalization bills for the 2023 legislative session. But Simplifya regulatory analyst Justin Bedford isn’t optimistic about the fate of the legislation.

“Though these may seem like promising developments, history suggests that South Carolina still has a long way to go before any form of commercial legalization occurs,” he wrote in an email. “All 14 cannabis-related bills that were deliberated during the 2022 legislative session failed to pass, with most dying in the early stages of development. Nothing has changed in the state’s sociopolitical environment that would suggest anything will be different this year.”

In North Carolina, the state Senate passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana in June 2022, but the House of Representatives declined to take up the legislation. Brian Fitzpatrick, chairman and CEO of cannabis software developer Qredible Inc, notes that public support for medical marijuana legalization is strong, and if a bill makes it to the desk of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, he’s likely to sign it into law.

“A poll carried out in January 2021 by Elon University found that 73% of North Carolinians supported medical cannabis,” Fitzpatrick said in an email. “A subsequent poll in May 2022 showed that support had increased to 82% across bipartisan lines. I believe that the governor is aware of this and will fully support the legalization of a medical cannabis bill in 2023.”

In Kentucky, where an executive order from Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear decriminalizing medical marijuana went into effect on New Year’s Day, a bill to legalize both medical and recreational cannabis was unveiled by lawmakers on January 7. The measure, Senate Bill 51, would legalize and regulate the “possession, cultivation, production, processing, packaging, transportation, testing, marketing, sale and use of medical cannabis and adult-use cannabis,” according to a report from the online resource Business Insurance. With Kentucky being one of the nation’s largest hemp producers, industry insiders believe the legislation has a good chance of success this year.

The Midwest and Surrounding States

Several states in the Midwest could make advancements in cannabis policy reform in 2023. In Ohio, voters could get the chance to vote on a cannabis legalization measure championed by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which was kept off the ballot for the November midterm election after legal challenges. Last week, Secretary of State Frank LaRose reintroduced the proposal, which would legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older and levy a 10% tax on commercial cannabis products. If the state legislature doesn’t approve the measure within four months, the coalition can collect signatures to put the proposal before the votes in the fall. Trent Woloveck, chief commercial director of cannabis commerce platform Jushi, believes legalization efforts have an even chance of success in Ohio this year.

“It is very unlikely that the legislature acts on the initiated stature in the next four months, but reasonably likely that the Coalition will be able to gather the additional required signatures for the effort to make the ballot,” he says. “While polling would suggest a ballot initiative legalizing cannabis would pass, the Senate president and other legislators disagree. And, even if voters approved an initiated statute, the legislature would have unrestricted authority to repeal or materially revise legalization.”

Like Hawaii, Pennsylvania has a new governor, Democrat Josh Shapiro, who has expressed support for legalizing recreational marijuana. The issue has been stymied in years past by Republican lawmakers, but a new Democratic majority in the state House of Representatives may help the chances at success.

“While we’ve heard some interest from both sides of the aisle in previous years, conversations about legalization seem to be happening among a much larger group of legislators with increased frequency and specificity,” Woloveck says. “It also sounds like many legislators, including several previously unwilling to engage in any cannabis-related discussions, now acknowledge something has to be done about the illicit market and to stop revenue from flowing to neighboring states where people can buy legal, regulated cannabis for non-medical purposes.”

After legalizing low-potency THC edibles last year, cannabis policy experts say Minnesota could be the most likely state to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023. The state’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) is now in charge of both the legislative and executive branches of government, and party leaders including Gov. Tim Walz have said that cannabis legalization will be a priority for 2023. Last Wednesday, a bill sponsored by DFL lawmakers Rep. Zack Stephenson and Sen. Lindsey Port received the approval of a legislative committee, with more hearings on the measure to come.

In Oklahoma, where 10% of adults hold cards to participate in the state’s liberal medical marijuana program, voters will decide on a ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis in March. If passed, State Question 820 would legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older. The measure also contains provisions to expunge past convictions for marijuana-related offenses. Proponents of the measure had hoped it would appear before voters during the November midterm elections, but a delay in certifying petition signatures and legal challenges from opponents prevented its inclusion on the ballot.

Lawmakers in other states including Georgia and Delaware could also take up measures to legalize marijuana this year, although the prospects for success in 2023 seem unlikely given the political climate in those states. But progress in cannabis policy will probably continue if the trend seen over the last decade goes on.

“Since 2012, when Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize cannabis, we’ve seen an average of two states per year pass adult-use laws,” Vicente notes. “I predict that 2023 will continue this trend with both Oklahoma and Minnesota looking very likely to legalize.”

The post Cannabis Legalization Could Make New Strides in 2023 appeared first on Cannabis Now.

First Medical Cannabis Crop Harvest Begins in North Carolina

November 23, 2022 Published by

According to The Charlotte Observer, the cultivation site is located in the eastern part of the state in The Qualla Boundary. In addition to beginning its first harvest on Nov. 18, the tribe also plans to open the largest medical cannabis dispensary in the state sometime in 2023, which will be located in an old building previously used for bingo. “I’m really proud of my tribe taking this step, one with the betterment of this community in mind,” said general manager of Qualla Enterprises LLC, Forrest Parker.

The cannabis business is expected to create 400 to 500 new jobs (with “several hundred” applications already received for various positions), which will increase the EBCI’s total employment number to 7,500. “Most special to me is the employment opportunity,” Parker said. “We can teach them skills they can use for the rest of their lives in what is a very well-paying industry.” Over the summer, the EBCI employed about 40 people to work on cultivation, with about 80% of them members of the tribe.

The EBCI’s Tribal Council approved Ordinance No. 539, which legalized medical cannabis on tribal land in August 2021. Far beyond the state’s progress on medical cannabis legislation, the Tribal Council saw cannabis as a benefit for medical patients. “The Council’s approval of a medical marijuana ordinance is a testament to the changing attitudes toward legal marijuana and a recognition of the growing body of evidence that supports cannabis as medicine, particularly for those with debilitating conditions like cancer and chronic pain,” said Principal Chief Richard Sneed.

According to the EBCI cannabis website, the tribe will control all aspects of production. “It all begins as a seed…and develops into the plant that is the basis to all cannabis. EBCI Farms will be the source for all of its products that are sold to the public. Everything from seed to sale begins here,” the website states. Currently, the business plans to produce cannabis flower, pre-rolls, edibles, concentrates, and topicals.

“It’s a vertical market. We have to plant it. We have to cultivate it. We have to harvest it. We have to process it. We have to package it and move through all of that network of product and get it there. It’s a lot of people,” Parker told ABC13 News.

The ECBI also has its own Cannabis Control Board, which consists of five healthcare and law enforcement experts, to manage the tribe’s cannabis regulations. Current rules dictate that non-tribe members may purchase up to one ounce of cannabis per day, but not to exceed more than six ounces in a month. This also extends to a limit of 2,500 milligrams of THC in products per day, but not more than 10,000 milligrams in a month.

The New York-based Oneida Indian Nation announced in September that it would launch a seed-to-sale cannabis business sometime in 2023. Also in New York, the Saint Regis (Akwesasne) Mohawk Tribe partnered with actor Jim Belushi to open a dispensary on Oct. 27, called Belushi’s Farm Akwesasne.

Additionally, the Seneca Nation of Indians announced that its building a cannabis dispensary in the city of Niagara Falls, New York, which is slated to open in February 2023 as well. “After extensive research and planning, the Seneca Nation is excited to create a new, Nation-owned business in the growing and competitive cannabis market,” said Seneca Nation President Rickey Armstrong Sr.

There are many tribe-owned and operated cannabis dispensaries throughout the country already, including Mountain Source Santa Ysabel operated by the Iipay Nation Tribe (located northeast of San Diego), to the Paiute-owned NuWu Cannabis Marketplace in Nevada, and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe’s Joint Rivers dispensary in Washington State.

The Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association (ICIA) hosted the National Indigenous Cannabis Policy Summit on Nov. 15-16 in Washington, D.C., which covered a variety of topics in relation to create solutions to common challenges that tribes face in the industry. “The Summit brings together Tribal leaders, elected and government officials, business, healthcare, veterans groups, and advocacy organizations to provide solutions to the most pressing challenges and opportunities growing for Indian Country,” the event website states.

The post First Medical Cannabis Crop Harvest Begins in North Carolina appeared first on High Times.

North Carolina Governor Urges State Lawmakers To Legalize Pot

October 10, 2022 Published by

Taking a cue from President Joe Biden, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday urged state lawmakers to decriminalize marijuana.

“Conviction of simple possession can mar people’s records for life and maybe even prevent them from getting a job,” Cooper, a Democrat, said during a task force meeting on racial equity and criminal justice, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Cooper noted that the state General Assembly, which is controlled by Republicans, failed to act on the task force’s recommendations in the previous session, but he said he “believe[s] they should.”

“North Carolina should take steps to end this stigma,” the governor said.

According to the Associated Press, the task force that Cooper addressed on Friday was established “by Cooper in June 2020 after George Floyd’s murder,” and it consists of a “24-member panel of law enforcement officers, attorneys, civil rights advocates and state officials.”

The AP reported that the task force “recommended in a 2020 report that state lawmakers replace the misdemeanor charge for possessing up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana with a civil offense on par with a traffic infraction.”

Along with Cooper, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, also a Democrat, urged lawmakers in the state to move forward with cannabis reform.

Their call came a day after Biden said that he will issue pardons to individuals with federal convictions of simple marijuana possession.

In his announcement on Thursday, the president called on “all Governors to do the same with regard to state offenses.”

“As I often said during my campaign for President, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit. Criminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. And while white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates,” Biden said in a statement.

Crucially, Biden’s announcement was also framed as a first step toward decriminalizing cannabis under federal law, with the president saying he has asked “the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.”

“Federal law currently classifies marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the classification meant for the most dangerous substances.  This is the same schedule as for heroin and LSD, and even higher than the classification of fentanyl and methamphetamine – the drugs that are driving our overdose epidemic,” Biden said.

The president added: “Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs.”

North Carolina is one of the few remaining states where neither medical nor recreational cannabis use is legal.

Lawmakers in the state considered a bill earlier this year that would have legalized medical cannabis treatment, with the bill easily earning approval in the state Senate.

But the legislation stalled in the state House of Representatives.

Had it passed, it would have created one of the most restrictive medical cannabis laws in the United States.

Despite the lack of action by elected officials, there is broad support among North Carolina voters for both medical and recreational cannabis.

A poll in April found that 72% of voters in the Tar Heel State support legalizing medical cannabis, while 57% said they also support making recreational pot use legal.

The post North Carolina Governor Urges State Lawmakers To Legalize Pot appeared first on High Times.

A Pocket Full of Felonies

August 5, 2022 Published by

My flight leaves in about 12 hours and the anxiety I usually feel starts to set in. I’m not nervous about the flight at all; at this point, after doing comedy for a decade, I’ve gotten used to flying. No, I’m nervous because I’m a stoner doing 10 shows in five cities in North and South Carolina. Let’s just say, North and South Carolina aren’t the most weed-friendly places in America.

I’m nervous about what clothes to pack, so I pack my Proxy instead and take a fat rip, knowing it’s going to be 14 days before I can take a proper dab again. Usually, my go-to travel setup is edibles, a couple of rosin vape pens, my Peak Pro, and a few grams of that good good.

Weed is currently decriminalized in North Carolina, so it’s like a $200 fine, but I think it’s still a pretty harsh penalty for concentrates. I also don’t want to be that guy on tour that has to be bailed out. It’s been 4 years since I’ve toured the Carolinas opening for Pauly Shore. It’s when I learned that the vape pens were hardcore felonies, or at least that’s what the TSA agent told me on my flight back to California. Unbeknownst to that agent, I had just handed him my fanny pack full of weed cartridges. I was pouring bullets of sweat when they pulled me aside after going through the X-ray. They were wondering if I could introduce them to Pauly Shore.

Everyone loves Pauly Shore but in the Bible Belt, he is like Redneck Jesus.

I decided to stick with some gummies and real deal resin vapes, a gift from a holy-man. I look at my suitcase one more time and remember what my very Mexican mother said the last time I went to North Carolina: “Wear lots of tie dye because it makes you look less threatening, and do not go back to anyone’s house after the shows. You go straight to the hotel.” She has nothing to worry about as long as I don’t run out of weed.

Courtesy of Frank Castillo

RALEIGH

I like to think of my comedy as kind of a tightrope act. Pauly’s audiences are fucking amazing and he sells out wherever we go. Regardless of whatever level you’re at, opening for Pauly is part of growing as a comedian and it’s fun. Driving city to city, It’s like a dysfunctional family road trip but with more laughs. The show is me opening for 25 minutes, Jessie Johnson getting the sweet spot featuring for 25 minutes, and Pauly closing it out.

The first venue was Good Nights Comedy Club in Raleigh. It’s a beautiful red brick building; so much history in this club. Sadly, they are tearing it down and moving to another spot.

I always get introduced to the Comedy Club’s resident stoner, this time it was one of the cooks. He kept asking me if I wanted to hit his contraption he calls the “Blinky”. It’s a homemade bong he kept in his car cup holder. Another employee hit my rosin pen and had a come-to-Jesus moment.

Only one show gave me trouble and that’s because, from what I understand, Raleigh is kind of a liberal city in North Carolina. The people that give me trouble when it comes to my comedy are pearl-clutchers, which could be either side of the aisle; gun rights activists who want to give teachers guns, and people who hate the word “privileged.”

Courtesy of Frank Castillo

GREENSBORO BROOOOOO

I love driving through the Carolinas, but there’s nothing more breathtaking than seeing a Steak ‘n Shake sign the same exit as your hotel. Unfortunately, because it’s fucking Greensboro and it’s a Monday night, everything shuts down at like 10 PM. I’m staring through the Steak ‘n Shake window absolutely devastated that I can’t get a Nutella milkshake. The whole time Jessie and Pauly are laughing in the back of the car. I give my pen a long rip and drive us to the hotel defeated.

The second we get to the hotel, Jessie is listening to her set and in her notebook. I, on the other hand, am covering the smoke detector with the bag you get from the ice bucket. Priorities.

The Greensboro Comedy Zone is family-owned and its green room is attached directly to the kitchen. You’ll be getting ready for the show, going over your notes, as they drop a fresh bag of mozzarella sticks. You can smell the french fries while you memorize punchlines.

I thought Greensboro was going to give me the most trouble and it ended up being my favorite show of the trip. Not because I did well but because I got to watch people not like my comedy. I have a joke about being in an interracial relationship, all the minorities that were in the audience laughed. A good amount of white people laughed as well, but there are always one or two couples that just stare at me, looking at me disapprovingly with their arms crossed. That shit’s my favorite.

Charlotte

As we pull in, I take inventory. I’ve got one full pen and I’ve killed the edibles. I find an ABX pen from an earlier trip to Mexico. Which means I went through their security and they didn’t notice. I count my blessings.

The Charlotte Comedy Zone is beautifully built. Colosseum-style seating and the stage is much higher than the audience below you but rises the farther back you go. Pauly’s got this room sold out and every joke you can feel gets longer because of the laughs.

This crowd is an interesting mix. I see some 1776 shirts, thin blue line hoodies and those guys did not shake my hand or want to take pictures with me after the show. After my school shooting joke, a few people tightened up and I called them snowflakes. It felt like I was in California for a second; it immediately gets them back. We leave that night and drive to Greenville for a show day and a day off.

Courtesy of Frank Castillo

Greenville

We stay in Greenville for two days. The show is on a Thursday and it sold out so fast they had to add a second show. I am officially out of weed. The homie Fumed Glass pulls up and graces us with some beautiful glass pieces and pendants. Explaining to Pauly Shore what a pendant is was very entertaining.

After the shows, people occasionally hand me goodies, usually their best homegrown stuff which is hit or miss. When we get back to the hotel, I ask the valet where’s the best place to smoke weed. He tells me he’s actually the owner of the valet company and that the best place to smoke is the little smoking area where the employees smoke. He tells me the manager of the hotel is gone for the night so I am pretty much free to just blaze up. Love when stoners help each other out.

Black Mountain

Asheville is a cute little town with amazing barbecue. The venue where we’re doing the show is in the next town over in Black Mountain at a place called Silverado’s.

A man in a cowboy hat informs me it used to be an outlaw biker bar and now it’s a country music venue. The show is outside on a rock stage and it’s a full crowd. The show is sponsored by a delta-9/CBD company.

North Carolina has these weird laws where somehow delta-9 and delta-8 slipped through the cracks. They won’t legalize weed, but they’ll try to figure some other weird shit out.

Someone hands me a joint and informs me I’m smoking delta-9 Cookies. It’s one of those joints where I can’t really tell if I’m stoned or not.

I start talking with the owner’s brother about doing concentrates and he says, “Yeah man, I have dabs in my car if you want to try some.” He pulls out a Huni Badger and a gram of what I can only describe as some home grown concentrates. It had sticks and twigs in it and surprisingly didn’t taste that bad.

After my set a fan wants to smoke weed with me before I leave and he says, “Yeah, I own this place. I’m also running for sheriff!” I immediately start laughing. Someone hands me an edible and says “It’s pretty good man, trust me!”

Usually I’m a little bit more wary about the things people hand me when it comes to edibles because you never know. We go to a bar afterwards to celebrate the end of the 10-day tour. We reflect on the trip, life, and comedy.

Courtesy of Frank Castillo

Then everything I took hits me. All of a sudden, my face starts to get hot and my hands get really sweaty. I feel really high and not normal. I start to get a little panicky and my limbs feel like they are disconnected from my body. My face starts to feel prickly.

I text my homie who is in the industry and ask, “Hey man, I think I got delta-9 or delta-8 or some shit.” I recap my whole night and he goes, “Yeah, just take it easy drink some water and take some CBD if you need it. I wouldn’t really worry about the edible.” A wave of relief washed over me.

“What I’d really be worried about is whatever else he smokes outta that Huni Badger.”

We make it back to the hotel, I murder the snack bar and I pass out in a pile of chips.

After a long flight back to Los Angeles I get picked up from the airport and I’m greeted with a packed Puffco and the sweet deliciousness of some California rosin. As we head back home to Hollywood I think, I can’t wait to go back on the road.

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North Carolina Gov. Signs Bill Marking Legal Hemp Permanent

July 1, 2022 Published by

Hemp is now permanently legal in North Carolina thanks to a bill signed into law by the state’s governor.

The legislation was one of three measures signed on Thursday by Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat. As written, the bill will permanently remove hemp from the state’s list of controlled substances, which brings North Carolina in line with federal law.

Cooper hailed the bill as a win for Tar Heel State farmers.

“Agriculture is North Carolina’s largest industry and giving North Carolina farmers certainty that they can continue to participate in this growing market is the right thing to do for rural communities and our economy,” Cooper said in a statement following the bill’s signing.

Changes to federal law over the last eight years have made it possible for states to cultivate hemp, a policy that has been a boon to the agriculture community.

In 2014, Congress passed a Farm Bill that enabled state governments and research institutions to cultivate and produce hemp under so-called “pilot programs.”

The 2018 Farm Bill changed national policy over hemp entirely by removing it from the federal Controlled Substances Act.

As the National Conference of State Legislatures explained: “The 2018 Farm Bill allows states and tribes to submit a plan and apply for primary regulatory authority over the production of hemp in their state or in their tribal territory. As described in the USDA interim final rule, a state plan must include certain requirements, such as keeping track of land, testing methods, and disposal of plants or products that exceed the allowed THC concentration. The USDA will review and issue a decision within 60 days on plans submitted by a state to the agency with the goal of providing states enough time to implement their plan before the 2020 hemp season.”

North Carolina had treated its hemp cultivation as a pilot program, which was scheduled to lapse at the end of June. The bill signed into law on Thursday by Cooper extends the program beyond that month, and into the future.

The measure had overwhelming support in North Carolina’s Republican-controlled general assembly, with members of the state Senate passing the bill unanimously in May.

The hemp bill fared better than a proposal to legalize medical cannabis in North Carolina. Members of the state Senate approved that legislation last month by a vote of 35-10, but has stalled in the state House of Representatives.

The bill would permit patients with the following qualifying conditions to receive medical cannabis as a treatment: Cancer; Epilepsy; Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); Crohn’s disease; Sickle cell anemia; Parkinson’s disease; Post-traumatic stress disorder, subject to evidence that an applicant experienced one or more traumatic events; Multiple sclerosis; Cachexia or wasting syndrome; Severe or persistent nausea in a person who is not pregnant that is related to end-of-life or hospice care, or who is bedridden or homebound because of a condition; a terminal illness when the patient’s remaining life expectancy is less than six months; or a condition resulting in the individual receiving hospice care.

Polls have shown that North Carolina voters are broadly supportive of both medical and recreational cannabis.

Seventy-two percent of registered voters in the state said they are in favor of medical cannabis use, according to a survey released in April. The same poll found that 57% of North Carolina voters believe recreational cannabis should be legal, too.

Support for medical cannabis included 64% of North Carolina Republicans, 46% of whom said they are in favor of recreational pot being made legal.

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North Carolina Lawmakers Advance Medical Cannabis Bill

June 3, 2022 Published by

North Carolina took another step toward finally legalizing medical cannabis on Thursday, with members of the state Senate overwhelmingly passing a bill that would authorize the treatment for a host of ailments and conditions.

The measure passed the chamber on a vote of 35-10, according to the News & Observer newspaper.

It now heads to the state House of Representatives. Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. The state’s governor, Roy Cooper, is a Democrat.

The bill, officially known as the North Carolina Compassionate Care Act, would authorize medical cannabis for individuals with the following qualifying conditions: Cancer; Epilepsy; Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); Crohn’s disease; Sickle cell anemia; Parkinson’s disease; Post-traumatic stress disorder, subject to evidence that an applicant experienced one or more traumatic events; Multiple sclerosis; Cachexia or wasting syndrome; Severe or persistent nausea in a person who is not pregnant that is related to end-of-life or hospice care, or who is bedridden or homebound because of a condition; a terminal illness when the patient’s remaining life expectancy is less than six months; or a condition resulting in the individual receiving hospice care.

Per the News & Observer, “Democrats have asked for even broader legalization, putting forward a number of suggestions ranging from adding additional ailments to the list of covered medical conditions, to passing more sweeping laws, like decriminalization or even full recreational legalization of cannabis,” but “Republicans shot those proposals down.”

Eight of the 10 votes against the bill were Republicans, according to the News & Observer, among them state Sen. Jim Burgin, who “invoked some of the previous fights against tobacco—which remains one of North Carolina’s biggest crops, including in Burgin’s district—and implied that the bill was hypocritical because of that.”

“We’ve spent billions of dollars and passed numerous laws to stop people from smoking,” Burgin said, as quoted by the News & Observer. “We’re now voting on a new version of Big Tobacco.”

The bill’s sponsor is GOP state Sen. Bill Rabon, who has sought to assuage concerns of his fellow Republicans by arguing that the bill will create the most restrictive medical cannabis law in the United States.

“We think we’ve done the right thing. We think that every provision from start to finish has been well thought out, well laid out, and put before you,” Rabon said prior to the vote on Thursday, as quoted by local television station WITN.

As quoted by the News & Observer, Rabon said that lawmakers in North Carolina “have looked at other states, the good and the bad.”

“And we have, if not perfected, we have done a better job than anyone so far,” he said, according to the newspaper.

More than a dozen states have legalized recreational pot use for adults, and a majority have legalized medical cannabis.

But in North Carolina, neither are legal, despite there being broad support for both.

A poll in April found that 72% of voters in the Tar Heel State believe that medical cannabis should be legal. The same poll found that 57% of voters in North Carolina believe that recreational cannabis should be legal, as well.

A spokesperson for Cooper, the Democratic governor, said last year that he would be inclined to support a medical cannabis bill that was under consideration by North Carolina lawmakers at the time.

“Studies have shown medical marijuana can offer many benefits to some who suffer from chronic conditions, particularly veterans, and the Governor is encouraged that North Carolina might join the 36 other states that have authorized it for use. The Governor will review this bill as it moves through the legislative process,” the spokesperson said.

The bill that passed the state Senate on Thursday could face some tough sledding in the state House, where “House Speaker Tim Moore has expressed that he won’t take it up for a vote,” according to WITN.

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North Carolina Lawmakers Advance Bill To Make Hemp Permanently Legal

June 1, 2022 Published by

A bill in North Carolina would ensure that hemp and CBD remain legal in the state beyond this month.

Members of the state Senate approved the legislation on Tuesday, which would permanently remove hemp from North Carolina’s list of controlled substances.

According to local television station WGHP, the bill passed the chamber by a unanimous vote.

As was the case in a host of other states, North Carolina greenlit the cultivation of hemp following changes to how the federal government treats the plant in the last decade.

The 2014 Farm Bill that was passed by Congress “provided a definition for hemp and allowed for state departments of agriculture or universities to grow and produce hemp as part of research or pilot programs,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Four years later, the 2018 Farm Bill went further by completely changing “federal policy regarding hemp, including the removal of hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and the consideration of hemp as an agricultural product,” while also legalizing “hemp under certain restrictions and defined hemp as the plant species Cannabis sativa L. with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis,” according to NCSL.

As WGHP explained, since “hemp farming became legal under federal law in 2014, there are about 1,500 hemp growers and more than 1,200 processors in North Carolina registered under the USDA Domestic Hemp Production Rule,” but the state always regarded it as “a pilot program, which is scheduled to end in June.”

The bill passed by members of the North Carolina state Senate on Tuesday would “conform the hemp laws with federal law by permanently excluding hemp from the state Controlled Substances Act.”

Republicans in North Carolina hold majorities in both the state Senate and state House of Representatives. The state’s governor, Roy Cooper, is a Democrat.

Hemp isn’t the only area that North Carolina lawmakers are looking to reform.

Last week, Democratic state Sen. Toby Fitch introduced a bill that would legalize recreational cannabis use for adults in North Carolina.

A poll in April found that a majority of North Carolina voters are in favor of both medicinal and recreational pot, both of which are currently illegal in the Tar Heel State.

Under Fitch’s bill, as reported by the Winston Salem-Journal, adults in the state aged 21 and older could “possess up to two ounces of marijuana on their person.” The legislation would establish a regulatory system governing the sale of cannabis, as well.

Separately, North Carolina lawmakers are also weighing a bill that would legalize medical cannabis. According to local television station WRAL, “a bill to legalize medical marijuana for patients with certain serious illnesses, including cancer, will be heard by the Senate rules committee Wednesday,” and that the bill “is expected to win committee approval.”

Should the legislation emerge from the committee, it “could reach the Senate floor as early as Thursday,” according to WRAL.

The poll released in April found that 72% of voters in North Carolina believe medical cannabis should be legal, including 64% of Republicans, 75% of Democrats, and 78% of Independents.

Cooper has indicated previously that he would likely sign a medical cannabis bill into law.

Last year, when a medical cannabis proposal was under consideration by the General Assembly, a spokesperson for the Democratic governor said: “Studies have shown medical marijuana can offer many benefits to some who suffer from chronic conditions, particularly veterans, and the Governor is encouraged that North Carolina might join the 36 other states that have authorized it for use. The Governor will review this bill as it moves through the legislative process.”

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