An advisory council in North Carolina recommended lawmakers create a system that allow adults to use marijuana in hopes of regulating a multibillion dollar, "wild west" marketplace.
North Carolina is one of only 10 states and three U.S. territories that does not have a regulated adult-use marijuana market or medical marijuana program, according to a draft report from the state's Advisory Council on Cannabis released April 2. In the absence of a legal market, consumers in the state spent an estimated $3.2 billion on illicit marijuana in 2022, according to a U.S. Cannabis Report cited by the council.
Meanwhile, the council said hemp-derived cannabinoid products are being marketed as legal alternatives to marijuana and sold without uniform standards or meaningful oversight. That industry is valued at about $1 billion, the council said.
"North Carolina’s intoxicating cannabis market currently exists in a dangerous policy gap that is neither true prohibition nor meaningful regulation," the report said.
The council recommended that the legislature end "the legal but unworkable distinction between marijuana and hemp" and establish "an adult-use regulatory model with built-in protections for medical consumers." That model would allow adults to purchase, possess and use cannabis through state-licensed retail outlets.
