State House and Senate Democrats are attempting yet again to move forward with bills that would legalize the use, sale and plant growing of marijuana in North Carolina.
has Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, as a co-sponsor, while the Senate version is .
If passed, the bills would legalize the possession of up to two ounces of cannabis flower, 15 grams of cannabis concentrate, and other cannabis products containing a total of no more than two grams of THC for adults age 21 and older. Home cultivation of up to six plants would be permitted.
“This is a repeat of bills filed over the past several sessions,†Harrison said Friday.
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“We continue to hear from constituents who are interested in legalizing recreational cannabis.â€
Both bills, which were filed last week, face extremely long odds of being heard in committee, much less becoming state law.
Both bills were placed directly into the gatekeeper Rules and Operations committees by House and Senate Republican leadership. That’s typically the step those leaders have taken when they want to shelve a bill.
During the 2023-24 sessions, both Democratic-sponsored marijuana legalization bills were immediately shelved, as were the four Democratic-sponsored bills filed during the 2021-22 sessions.
Senate Republicans passed during the 2023 and 2024 sessions bipartisan legislation to authorize the conditional use of medical marijuana in North Carolina.
However, a block of House Republicans have opposed any medical marijuana legislation out of concern that it could serve as a gateway to legalized recreation marijuana use. They also claim that medical research isn’t definitive that it benefits users.
Harrison acknowledged that the inability to gain enough House Republican support for the Senate’s medical marijuana bill that “our bill is unlikely to move.â€
“Given that there’s nary a Republican to be found in the list of sponsors and co-sponsors, it seems unlikely that this bill will make it into law in this session,†said Christopher Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina.
“My guess is that this is a messaging bill as much as anything — a way for the Democrats to remind voters that they are in support of legalization.â€
The chances are very slim for passage of either bill, said Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, an economics professor at Winston-Salem State University.
“This bill would legalize recreational marijuana, which I think is going too far for most legislators, even those who are sympathetic to medical marijuana,†Madjd-Sadjadi said.
The left-leaning Washington, D.C.- advocacy group NORML said in supporting HB413 that North Carolina’s prohibition of marijuana “financially burdens taxpayers, encroaches upon civil liberties, breeds disrespect for the law, impedes legitimate scientific research into the plant’s medicinal properties, and disproportionately impacts marginalized communities.â€
The group said that between 2018 and 2023, law-enforcement officers in N.C. made more than 88,000 marijuana-related arrests.
“Some 92% of these arrests were for marijuana possession only,†NORML said.
“This is a tremendous waste of police and prosecutorial resources that adversely impacts tens of thousands of North Carolinians.â€
Legalization bill details
Both marijuana legalization bills lay out a comprehensive plan for the legalization and regulation of the sale, possession and use of cannabis in the state for those at least age 21, as well as how sales are taxed.
The bills set the parameters for individual use of cannabis, creates restrictions of individuals growing marijuana, establishes penalties for unlawful usage, including consuming cannabis on a public setting and while driving a motor vehicle.
The bill would prohibit landlords and property managers from refusing to rent to individuals based on past conviction for cannabis use.
A controversial component of both bills is that conviction for prior marijuana use would be expunged no later than July 1, 2028.
The Senate version would prohibit local and state law enforcement from arresting or investigating individuals possessing or using marijuana, or seizing the products, based “on the sole basis of activity the officer believes to constitute a violation of federal law if the officer has reason to believe that such activity is in compliance with†the bill becoming state law.
Local and state law-enforcement officers also would be prohibited from “providing any information or logistical support related to such activity†involving cannabis “to any federal law enforcement authority or prosecuting entity.â€
The bills establish the Office of Community Reinvestment that would be dedicated to rehabilitating communities that were disproportionately affected by marijuana prohibition.
The state Administrative Office of the Courts would be authorized to review and expunge the records of criminal convictions for behaviors that would become legal with its passage.
Harrison said that while she remains hopeful of getting the marijuana legalization bill through the legislature, she said a faster path may come from legislation by the federal government “since there appears to be a lot of interest at the very least in decriminalizing marijuana.â€
Awaiting medical marijuana re-filing
Meanwhile, the wait continues for the re-filing of a controversial medical marijuana bill during the 2025 legislative session.
Former House speaker Tim Moore said in response to the passages of the Senate medical marijuana bills that for them to clear the House, there would need to be “reasonable controls,†and a balance to have enough distributors to prescribe and avoid a monopoly.
The 2024 Senate version of medical marijuana would permit the use — prescribed only by licensed physician — for individuals with ALS, cancer, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments, but not for those experiencing chronic pain.
Importantly, the bill does not allow recreational marijuana usage or the marketing of medical marijuana to anyone under age 21.
The bill was amended on the Senate floor to clarify that even if the use of recreational marijuana is made legal under federal law, the N.C. legislature must approve as well.
The bill was amended to ensure that licensed distributors of medical marijuana check the identification of anyone who looks to be age 30 and under, and to verify that no medical marijuana can be sold to anyone under age 21.
Madjd-Sadjadi said that even with the marijuana legalization bills likely not be acted upon, he expressed optimism that “this may be the year for legalizing medicinal marijuana, which has enjoyed significant bipartisan support in the Senate over the past few years.â€
