24 states have legalized recreational marijuana. Is North Carolina one of them? – Wilmington Star-News
As more states across the U.S. move to legalize recreational marijuana, North Carolina remains on the sidelines.
While 24 states have adopted laws allowing adults to purchase and consume cannabis for non-medical use, North Carolina continues to prohibit it.
There is one place in North Carolina, Cherokee, where the sale of medical marijuana has been legalized. Here is everything to know.
Marijuana is not legal in N.C. It is decriminalized, however, meaning possession of small amounts intended for personal use rather than illegal sales will generally mean punishments of civil or local infractions rather than state crimes.
Industrial hemp – marijuana with no THC – is legal in NC. Additionally, a popular loophole in hemp legislation has made it possible to get legally stoned. It is illegal to grow cannabis plants with more than a 0.3% concentration of delta-9 THC. Delta-8 THC, however, is not mentioned in the legislation.
Delta-8 is one of over 100 cannabinoids produced by cannabis plants, and while it is usually not found in high amounts, many N.C. hemp businesses have begun extracting the compound from plants or converting other compounds like CBD into delta-8. If you’ve seen weed sold at gas stations, tobacco stores or anywhere else, it’s likely psychoactive “delta-8” or a similar compound.
It’s worth mentioning that, while delta-8 causes a “high,” the FDA has not evaluated or approved it as safe for consumption, meaning that delta-8 products are not regulated by the FDA and could therefore be harmful to your health.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians voted in 2021 to legalize the sale of medical marijuana within its tribal territory known as the Qualla Boundary. Cherokee is a sovereign nation that has its own elections, laws, government and institutions that are self-governed and autonomous. That’s why it can make legal the sale of marijuana despite being within North Carolina.
The Great Smoky Cannabis Co. opened on April 20, 2014 and was the EBCI’s first dispensary. At first, it sold cannabis products to people with a medical marijuana card. It later branched out to recreation marijuana, and now visitors 21 and older can shop there.
Note that it remains illegal to take marijuana off the Qualla Boundary.
According to U.S. News and World Report, here are the 24 states to legalize marijuana:
For more information, visit usnews.com/news.
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for Carolinas Connect and the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com. Vanessa Countryman is the Trending Topics Reporter for the the Deep South Connect Team Georgia. Email her at Vcountryman@gannett.com.