House Republicans on Tuesday decided against holding a vote on controversial legislation that would ban most hemp and THC products.
The decision followed a day full of crowds at the Legislative Building, as supporters and opponents of the bill showed up to lobby lawmakers. Starting in November, the bill would make any product that contains more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container a Schedule VI controlled substance, which would make it illegal under the same drug laws governing marijuana, matching pending federal regulations.
Hundreds of hemp industry workers and supporters called for the bill to be replaced with regulations that would require buyers to be 21 or older. They say the current bill would force businesses to shutter even if the federal government changes its pending hemp regulations.
Some retailers that sell hemp closed their shops on Tuesday and sent their employees to the legislature instead, with many of the workers wearing their store uniforms to the protest.
Meanwhile, dozens of law enforcement officers and prosecutors showed up to support the bill, holding a news conference with a handful of House Republicans ahead of the session.
Rep. Reece Pyrtle, R-Rockingham and a former police chief, says he doesn’t think the hemp products should be available to anyone, regardless of age.
“I don't want 22-year-olds taking gas station heroin,” he told reporters. “I don't want that harmful substance available in the community, and I think it says volumes that law enforcement that took time to come to Raleigh today.”
Toby Harrison of the N.C. Association of Chiefs of Police says he’s not swayed by the arguments that the bill would shut down businesses.
“Anyone whose business depends on selling these products should not be in business,” he said. “They're actually peddling poison for profit, and we need to call it exactly what it is. This is not about debating whether responsible businesses should exist.”
One of the leading House Republicans, House Rules Chairman John Bell, recently worked as the CEO of Asterra Labs, a hemp product manufacturer in Nashville. He says he’s recused himself from deliberations on the hemp bill.
WUNC News asked Pyrtle if he sees any difference between the products sold by Bell’s former company and the “gas station heroin” he referenced.
“I've never tried either one of them, so I don't know,” he replied.
House Speaker Destin Hall said that while most legislators see a need for hemp regulations, there was "a lot of disagreement about what to do, and concerns about maybe the bill as written is too broad, and so there's just not the time to deal with that while we're in session right now." He says he plans to appoint a committee to consider the issue more closely in the coming months.
Stein concerned about kratom provision
While the hemp industry groups lobbied against the ban on products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC, Gov. Josh Stein weighed in this week about another provision.
He said in a social media post that the bill would “legalize” kratom, a tropical plant with drug-like effects.
“For some reason, the bill also legalizes kratom, an opioid-like substance sometimes called gas station heroin, and fails to include any meaningful age restrictions,” Stein said.
Earlier versions of the hemp bill would have banned kratom. But while the latest version bans most hemp products, it would ban only synthetic kratom while leaving other forms available. It does make it illegal to sell kratom to people under age 21, but it doesn’t include permitting and regulatory requirements that could help enforce an age limit.
Asked about Stein’s concerns during a news conference, Chuck Spahos of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys said the bill adequately addresses the kratom issue.
“The reason there's a distinction between the two is the bill would prohibit both products from being sold to children, but it would also prohibit synthetic kratom products from being sold to adults,” Spahos said.
Democrats' views mixed
When the bill emerged for a vote in the Senate without much advance notice, Senate Democrats split 10-6 in favor of the bill. The strong lobbying push from hemp advocates began in the weeks that followed.
Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, voted in support of the bill. But asked about the legislation, she said in an emailed statement that she’s not a fan of the hemp ban.
“Republican leadership dropped this conference report at the last minute and forced a quick vote, before the public could weigh in and before we could consult experts on the bill’s legal implications,” Batch said this week.
“As a child welfare advocate and the mother of teenage boys, I don't regret getting dangerous, unregulated drugs, like xylazine, out of vape shops and away from our kids who readily have access to these products. At the same time, I've said from the start of this debate, the hemp provisions had no place in this bill. I support North Carolina’s growing hemp industry and I want to see it treated fairly."
Batch says Republicans "refused to separate the dangerous drug issue from the hemp issue, and jammed everything into a single take-it-or-leave-it vote, forcing members to make a truly tough choice.”
With the House declining to take up the bill during its brief session this week, state lawmakers likely won't take further action on hemp regulations until November at the earliest. Both the House and Senate plan to take a break starting at the end of the week as election season approaches.
