This week, the North Carolina Senate will vote on a bill to legalize medical marijuana. More legislators might be receptive to it this session, increasing its chances of becoming law.
Only individuals with terminal illnesses like cancer, Parkinson’s, or AIDS would be eligible to have their doctors recommend medical marijuana under the new law.
Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger expressed confidence in the bill’s passage to WUNC. The Senate voted in favor of a similar bill last year.
There has been a change in membership, but I doubt it will affect the decision,” Berger remarked.
Yet last year, Republican members of the House fought against the move.
Now, House Speaker Tim Moore believes, the bill may receive more support.
Compared to last year, Moore claims, “attitudes have altered” this time around. In addition, “I think some persons have had an opportunity — once they were back home and visited with folks — to understand that there are some possibly valid uses for this.”
Moore emphasized the importance of stringent distribution network regulations in the proposed solution. He is concerned that the new policy will encourage marijuana use for recreational purposes.
Moore says the goal should be “having enough distributors that can prescribe, that you don’t have some sort of monopoly there of some kind,” but also “not simply flinging the door wide open where you have these [marijuana dispensaries] on every street corner.”
According to a legislative estimate, the state could collect tens of millions of dollars in fees from the medical marijuana industry. Registration fees would be required from patients, physicians, wholesalers, and others. Included in the bill is funding for a cannabis research program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
After receiving feedback from the Sheriffs’ Association, senators made changes to the bill last week. It will be voted on next Tuesday.
