CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – A bill in the North Carolina Senate is aiming to give voters the ability to decide whether or not they want to decriminalize marijuana during the midterm elections.
Senate Bill 1072 was filed by Senator Caleb Theodros of District 41 in Mecklenburg County on Monday, May 4.
If the bill passes the Senate and the House, then voters would see two amendments to the state’s constitution on the ballot on November 3.
“One is for the possession of limited amounts of cannabis for personal use not to be a criminal offence. The second is possession of limited amounts for medical use by patients with qualifying conditions cannot be a criminal offence,” said Senator Theodros.
Read –> Marijuana could soon be decriminalized by voters in North Carolina
The exact language of the bill doesn’t mention details such as how much marijuana is decriminalized or what conditions would qualify someone for medical use.
“The point of this legislation to put it on the ballot is to allow the General Assembly to still figure out what the implementation would look like. What would qualify as a small or large portion,” said Senator Theodros. “That’s when we start to talk to subject matter experts, folks in the medical and healthcare community along with business owners in the space to determine what that limited amount would be.”
Voters we spoke with are divided on whether or not people should be able to make this decision and have some questions about why decriminalizing marijuana would be beneficial.
“The people should always have an opportunity to decide what they would prefer happen,” said Isabella Millions. “Look at other cities and states that have legalized this we have to look at the data and see ‘Did it decrease criminalization?.’”
“Probably think I’d rather have the medical community have a bigger say in it than the general public,” said Michael Talbert. “I’d question why the legislators can’t make those decisions without a referendum if there’s compelling evidence that it’s something that needs to happen or that it would benefit society as a whole.”
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