North Carolina lawmakers are renewing the push for medicinal cannabis

The North Carolina General Assembly will again host a debate on legalizing medicinal cannabis as proponents hope the 2023 session will be better than last year.

Local news station WNCN reports that a “bipartisan group in the state Senate is again attempting to pass legislation legalizing medical marijuana this year, as new polls this week show popular support,” and that the state Judiciary Committee on The proposal debated on Wednesday “which is broadly similar to a bill the Chamber passed last year but which the House never considered.”

“There is hardly a family in this state or in this nation that has not at some point been touched 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 medicinal cannabis treatment available to patients with the following qualifying conditions: “cancer; Epilepsy; Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive status; Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (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, related to end-of-life care or hospice care, or who is bedridden or housebound due to a medical condition; An incurable disease when the patient’s remaining life expectancy is less than six months; [or] A condition that results in the person receiving hospice care.”

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

The bill says details of the trauma “are not required”.

Republicans control both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Last year, the state Senate passed a virtually identical bill legalizing medicinal cannabis, but ultimately failed to get out of the state house.

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

The state’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has expressed support for both.

“The mere possession conviction can damage 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 people with federal convictions for mere marijuana possession.

In his announcement at the time, Biden “urged all governors to do the same regarding federal misconduct.”

“As I’ve said many times during my presidential campaign, no one should be in prison just for using or possessing marijuana. Sending people to jail for possession of marijuana has turned too many lives upside down and incarcerated people for behavior many states no longer prohibit. Criminal records for marijuana possession have also created unnecessary barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. And while whites and blacks and browns use marijuana at similar rates, blacks and browns 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 be taking steps to end this stigma,” Cooper said.

There’s reason to believe that Tar Heel state voters are ready for lawmakers to take action.

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