The North Carolina legislature is moving the law forward to make hemp permanently legal

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

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

According to local television station WGHP, the bill passed unanimously.

Like many other states, North Carolina gave the go-ahead to growing hemp after the federal government changed its stance on the plant over the past decade.

The 2014 Farm Bill, passed by Congress, “provided a definition for hemp and permitted state departments of agriculture or universities to cultivate and produce hemp under research or pilot programs,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Four years later, the 2018 Farm Bill went a step further by completely changing “Federal policy regarding hemp, including removing hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and recognizing hemp as an agricultural product,” while also making “hemp under certain Restrictions and Definitions “legalized hemp as a plant species, Cannabis sativa L., having a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of no more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis,” according to NCSL.

As WGHP explained, since “hemp cultivation became legal under federal law in 2014, approximately 1,500 hemp growers and more than 1,200 processors in North Carolina have registered under the USDA Domestic Hemp Production Rule,” but the state has always viewed it as “a pilot program that… to end in June.”

The bill, passed Tuesday by members of the North Carolina state Senate, would “bring hemp laws into line with federal law by permanently excluding hemp from the state’s controlled substances law.”

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

Hemp isn’t the only area North Carolina lawmakers want to reform.

Last week, Democratic Senator Toby Fitch introduced legislation that would legalize recreational cannabis use by adults in North Carolina.

A poll in April found that a majority of North Carolina voters support both medical and recreational cannabis, both of which are currently illegal in the state of Tar Heel.

Under Fitch’s bill, as reported by the Winston Salem-Journal, adults ages 21 and older “could carry up to two ounces of marijuana on them.” The legislation would also create a regulatory system for the sale of cannabis.

Separately, North Carolina lawmakers are also considering a bill that would legalize medicinal 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 receive committee approval.”

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

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

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

Last year, as a medical cannabis proposal was being considered by the General Assembly, a spokesman for the Democratic governor said, “Studies have shown that medical marijuana can offer many benefits for some who suffer from chronic illnesses, particularly veterans, and the governor encourages North Carolina to join the 36 other states that have authorized it for use. The governor will review this bill as it goes through the legislative process.”