A new report from North Carolina’s Advisory Council on Cannabis made suggestions regarding the creation of a legal marijuana market in the Tar Heel State.
Though marijuana is decriminalized in NC, 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, it remains one of only 10 U.S. states in which marijuana is not legal for medical or recreational use.
In the absence of a legal market, consumers in the state spent an estimated $3.2 billion on illicit marijuana in 2022, according to a U.S. Cannabis Report cited by the council. The report also noted that this places NC as No. 2 in the entire nation for largest illicit marijuana markets.
Additionally, a main focus of the report revolved around NC’s legal market for intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid products, which remains “robust” despite the lack of actual cannabis legalization in the state.
The report made suggestions on changes to be made in order to control the amount of cannabinoid products sold “in an environment without any uniform standards for manufacturing, testing, labeling, packaging, or age verification, and absent any enforcement or oversight authority.”
Here’s what to know following the release of the report.
Though marijuana is illegal in NC, industrial hemp containing little to no THC is legal, and a popular loophole in hemp legislation has made it possible to get legally ‘high’. 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 NC 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.
In an April 2 report from the NC Advisory Council on Cannabis, officials wrote that the Tar Heel State’s market for intoxicating cannabis “currently exists in a dangerous policy gap that is neither true prohibition nor meaningful regulation.”
“Under a traditional prohibition framework, a state enacts clear laws banning a substance and provides law enforcement with the authority, resources, and enforcement tools necessary to carry out that prohibition,” the report stated. “Under a regulatory framework, the state establishes rules governing the production, testing, marketing, and sale of products, with enforceable standards designed to protect public health and public safety. North Carolina has neither system.”
The report made a number of observations and recommendations for the state, noting that despite the fact that THC is illegal in NC, intoxicating cannabinoid products remain widely available throughout the state in a market that “operates with limited oversight.”
Ultimately, the council suggested that the state regulate the THC molecule as the intoxicating substance, “rather than continuing the legal but unworkable distinction between marijuana and hemp.”
Secondly, the council suggested that NC establish a well-regulated market for intoxicating cannabis products, including oversight and enforcement authority. The report covered a possible adult-use regulatory model for such a market, under which adults would be permitted to “legally purchase, possess, and use cannabis through state-licensed retail outlets.”
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 NC.
According to a Feb. 10, 2026 report from the the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation, the 24 states where marijuana is fully legal include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
An additional 16 states have legalized marijuana for medical use only, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.