Will North Carolina legalize medical Marijuana in 2024?
Our role at Charlotte Marijuana Doctor is to help patients from all backgrounds get quality care based on their symptoms and diagnoses. That mission includes using properly sourced and regulated medical marijuana for treating depression, chronic pain, arthritis, and a number of other ailments.
The challenge is, as of this writing, whether medical marijuana is legal in North Carolina is still a question. Even though an astonishing 73% of North Carolinians support medical cannabis, forward momentum in making the substance legal is coming in incredibly slow increments.
The North Carolina House of Representatives will have to take up a recently passed Senate bill (SB. 3 – North Carolina Compassionate Care Act introduced by Senator Bill Rabon (R)) in the 2024 year. Whether or not this will pass is still in question.
Why Would North Carolina Want to Legalize Medical Marijuana?
Besides the massive public support for cannabis and other THC/CBD-related products, the state legislature is a little behind the pitch. This is somewhat surprising. Yes, North Carolina is a Republican-led state. However, there is a Democratic Governor (Ray Cooper), Republican President of the State Senate (Lt. Governor Mark Robinson), and Republican State Speaker of the House (Timothy K. Moore).
Our state leaned into the Republican party’s legislative agenda by voting for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. With the Senate, representatives, and previous voting history going more Republican than Democratic, there isn’t a lot of optimism for the passage of a medical marijuana bill.
However, don’t forget that a Republican introduced the Compassionate Care Act. There is an overwhelming wave of public support coming from key republican voting demographics like veterans and the elderly, both of whom would use medical marijuana legal in North Carolina for symptom relief.
On top of helping with pain management and other illnesses, legalizing medical marijuana offers:
- An increase in tax collection and regulation through allowing growers, retailers, and distributors. Those profits can go toward infrastructure, education, and many other initiatives.
- Decriminalization of marijuana would go a long way to helping prevent injustice and remove some of the racial stigmas around incarceration related to this specific substance use.
- North Carolina could take the $3.6 billion used annually to enforce marijuana laws and direct it toward much more beneficial public programming.
- Improve the quality of life for patients of all backgrounds and ages while opening new research on how medical marijuana positively affects conditions like Parkinson’s disease or having to go through chemotherapy for cancer treatments.
To put it in simpler terms, there are many positive reasons to lean into a legalization effort. The challenge is convincing enough republican representatives to get on board with their senator counterparts for the 2024 agenda.
What is the Current State of Legalizing Medical Marijuana in North Carolina?
Medical marijuana legal in North Carolina begins with a 2020 task force. Governor Roy Cooper wanted to study potential racial inequalities in the criminal justice system. That is because even a minor possession could result in a class 1 misdemeanor with up to 45 days imprisonment and a $200 fine.
There are over 30,000 individuals living in overcrowded, understaffed, and frequently dehumanizing facilities due to incarceration. Decriminalizing medical marijuana would go a long way to removing the pressure from the criminal justice system so those convicted of much more severe crimes are appropriately dealt with.
Then, on March 1, 2023, the aforementioned bill passed the North Carolina Senate by a vote of 36-10. That is good news for medical marijuana legal North Carolina experts because of the four-to-one odds supporting the bill.
Currently, North Carolina is only one of thirteen states to not have enacted some form of medical cannabis program. That puts more pressure on the legislature. The problem here is that legalization is often seen as a “Democratically led” initiative. That is because President Joe Biden has presented open support for legalization, even pardoning some federal convicts due to minor marijuana-related crimes.
If legislatures lean into the wide use of medical marijuana legal in North Carolina initiatives for military veterans, they can reframe the argument and come out smelling like daisies. Even the VA is calling for more research and does not remove benefits due to vets using medical marijuana.
What Happens When Medical Marijuana Becomes Legal in North Carolina?
There is a good chance SB 3 will pass the state representatives. 2024 is an election year, and with such an outpouring of public support, representatives can spin the argument that they are opening new doors to treatment while being responsible by only allowing medical-grade relief and not recreational use.
That may be considered “threading the needle” of the issue. Still, the more important aspect to focus on is the relief medical marijuana legal in North Carolina would offer to patients just like you.
In the case that SB 3 is enacted, around ten companies in North Carolina would immediately be granted licenses to control the supply and sale of medical marijuana to companies like ours. All of these suppliers can then create up to eight dispensaries around the state (in compliance with local regulations, of course).
In addition, this bill would create the Medical Cannabis Production Commission. That is who we at Charlotte Marijuana Doctor would answer to in ensuring all our fantastic patients are able to move forward with their treatment plans
What About Personal, Recreational, and Other Forms of Marijuana?
Our goal at Charlotte Medical Doctors is to work with patients interested in the positive use of medical marijuana through legal means in North Carolina. We do not handle personal use, recreational use, or other forms.
However, we do want to keep you all informed because we are a fundamental part of this community.
There is another bill (HB 626) that is sponsored by 14 state democrats. This would license personal use and possession and require a 30% state cannabis excise tax for the sale of cannabis-related products. This is a standalone bill and is not likely to pass due to a lack of support from Republicans.
SB346 is another bill in the same “limbo” situation. It blends the use of personal cannabis products as well as medical marijuana. There are only seven democratic sponsors, and it is widely accepted to not be heard in 2024.
A surprising update is the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. In September of 2023, they approved a local referendum legalizing adult possession, cultivation, and purchase of cannabis on tribal lands. It means anyone within those boundaries would be allowed to use and purchase marijuana for medical and recreational needs. Some frameworks still need to be ironed out, but that means parts of North Carolina have legalized access.
Whether Republicans will join their peers in the house is yet to be seen. Given the volume of public support, financial benefits, and segments of North Carolina already allowing the use, sale, and cultivation of medical marijuana, it only makes sense to go all the way.
Decriminalization and allowing medical marijuana in North Carolina will go a long way to improving the patient quality of care provided by teams like ours at Charlotte Marijuana Doctor.
To get ahead of the most likely legalization that is bound to happen soon, schedule a consultation today and pre-register for use. We look forward to being your solution in proper pain management and other treatments through the use of medical marijuana and cannabis products.
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