NC council calls for legal marijuana and hemp to counter widespread illegal use

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Apr 6, 2026

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RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina should set up a legal, regulated marijuana and hemp market for adults, a state advisory council said, noting that without it, residents had spent about $3 billion in 2022 on illegal marijuana.

That makes North Carolina one of the largest marijuana black markets in the country, ranking second in the nation, according to the interim report released by the council, which was created in June 2025 by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein to study and recommend options for a comprehensive, statewide approach to cannabis.

States with regulated adult-use cannabis have generated between $33 million and $552 million in annual tax revenue, the North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis said in its interim report.

“Our state’s unregulated cannabis market is the wild west and is crying for order. Let’s get this right and create a safe, legal market for adults that protects kids,” said Stein in a news release on Friday in response to the group’s recommendations.

That regulated market should include both hemp and marijuana, the council wrote. Hemp and marijuana both come from the cannabis plant.

Marijuana is illegal in North Carolina. Hemp is not, and products that include it have cropped up across the state in vape shops and gas stations, and in formats such as drinks, gummies and vapes.

The law distinguishes hemp and marijuana based on levels of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which can get users high. Hemp must contain 0.3% or less of delta-9 THC by dry weight. Anything above that threshold is considered marijuana, even though the plants can look and smell the same. The cannabis plant contains other compounds beyond delta-9 THC, including delta-8 THC, which can cause a high, and cannabidiol, or CBD, which does not.

North Carolina does not regulate many of these products, meaning minors can legally access them, despite repeated efforts by lawmakers in the GOP-led legislature to reach agreement on rules.

There have been recent shifts at the federal level, though, and many hemp products are set to become illegal starting November, barring any change.

Lawmakers are back in session starting April 21.

Other recommendations

Beyond recommending lawmakers set up a legal, regulated cannabis market for adults, they also suggested it be done with protections.

That would include low-THC product options, expanded health warnings, recall authority and access to medical consultations for consumers.

The co-chairs said that, out of all possible regulatory models, an adult-access model would bring the most revenue to the state, which could support public health education campaigns and enforcement efforts.

According to the report, the council’s work so far has focused on consumer safety, youth protection, prevention and treatment, and market structure.

Its next phase will focus on regulatory structure, enforcement, criminal justice reform, revenue and federal compliance.

The council includes law enforcement officials, public health experts, representatives from the alcohol industry, members of two of the state’s Indian tribes, and four state legislators. Among them are the rules committee chairs from both chambers: Rep. John Bell, a Republican from Goldsboro who previously served as president of a hemp company called Asterra Labs, and Sen. Bill Rabon, a Republican from Southport and a cancer survivor who has repeatedly advocated for medical marijuana legislation.

The final report is due by December 2026.

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