As the State Senate moved toward its final budget vote on Thursday, it added a compromise version of long-awaited legislation that would ban the sale of hemp and kratom products to anyone younger than 21 years old to its agenda.
In introducing the updated version of House Bill 328, Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, recounted visiting a hemp dispensary near the Legislative Building and buying a pre-roll of a product called Girl Scout Cookies. There was a disclaimer, Lee said, that the seller didn't know how much THCA, which can turn into THC when heated, or potentially harmful substances were in the product.
"They don't know what's in them. Clearly the manufacturers don't know what's in them because it warns about toxic substances, and you can buy this down the street five minutes from here," Lee said.
The legislation proposes overhauling the state's definition of hemp products, which right now are defined as a dry weight of THC compound delta-9 that is not higher than 0.3% of the product's dry weight. The problem, lawmakers and law enforcement say, is that products are being sold in many dispensaries that have dramatically higher THC levels based on other compounds such as delta-7, delta-9 and delta-10.
Additionally, the North Carolina legislation would fully ban sales of synthetic kratom products, as well as barring sales of consumable hemp products or natural kratom products to anyone younger than 21 years old.
"Right now, we have the wild west to an extent, and whereas I’d love to put this entire thing back in the bottle and see it go away entirely, I don’t think we can," said Sen. Benton Sawrey, a Johnston County Republican.
House Bill 328 would bring North Carolina into alignment with a federal definition of legal hemp products that is set to take effect on November 12. The federal definition also bans products that contain more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container, a provision that has caused White House officials to call for changes to the upcoming rule.
The conference report states that lawmakers intend for the federal hemp and hemp products standard that is set to become effective to remain North Carolina's standard, even if it is weakened or repealed by Congress.
Sawrey recounted joining Bryan House, the director of the N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement division, to visit a dispensary near a Wake County high school that had a drive through.
"They did not care at all. The director of the ALE, a man in a tactical vest and a North Carolina state senator were sitting in there picking up packages that look like Skittles, looking at things that were eseentially legalized marijuana, THCA products on the shelves. They know that right now, the North Carolina law, there's just not a lot of enforcement mechanisms in place," Sawrey said.
The updated version of House Bill 328 was crafted by a group of seven lawmakers: Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick; Lee; Sen. Tom McInnis, R-Moore; Rep. Rep. Reece Pyrtle, R-Rockingham; Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus; Rep. Neal Jackson, R-Moore; and Rep. Donnie Loftis, R-Gaston. They produced a conference report, which cannot be amended and must be approved by a simple majority in both chambers to reach Gov. Josh Stein.
Sen. Sophia Chitlik, D-Durham, said that what she called "piecemeal" regulations will simply result in black market sales of the now-outlawed hemp and kratom products. With hemp in particular, Chitlik said, the state should explore marijuana legalization.
That would create a safer market where only adults could buy the products, Chitlik argued, with such an effort including mandates for testing and labeling that isn't designed to appeal to young people.
"This is something that North Carolinians want, it's not going away. We cannot regulate it out of existence, but we can regulate us into safety," Chitlik said.
The bill passed the Senate with a 37-6 vote on Thursday, with six Democrats including Chitlik voting against the measure.
Frustration between chambers
While the Senate approved the bill Thursday, the House delayed action. And due to the cadence of events, the House had adjourned, with many lawmakers leaving, before the Senate started its debate on the updated drug legislation.
Both Lee and Sawrey expressed frustration that a long-awaited compromise on hemp and kratom with the State House was not coming to fruition Thursday. During debate, Sawrey noted that Thursday's vote marks the second time that the Senate has sent a version of House Bill 328 across the hallway.
"We have got to do something, and we've lobbed bills over to the other chamber time and again at this point and I'm getting frustrated with chasing the goalposts about what we can do at this point," Sawrey said.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Speaker of the House Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said that his chamber hadn't taken House Bill 328 because it had emerged late Wednesday, failing to give lawmakers enough time to review the updated language.
By waiting, Hall said, members of the House will have about a month to review the technical aspects of the proposed legislation.
"I'd rather err on the side of caution in terms of getting those things out of the marketplace, and I think our (House Republican) caucus generally agrees with that position, as well. They just need some time to study the (bill). So we'll see. If the caucus wants to do it, it'll get a vote," Hall said.
Hall also reiterated his caucus' long-standing opposition to medical marijuana, an effort that has support among Rabon and other powerful members of the Senate.
Under an adjournment resolution approved Thursday, the House agreed to come back during the week of July 27.
