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Unregulated sales of intoxicating cannabis products have created a “wild west” where items are sold with no testing, uniform labeling or potency limits, a state advisory council said in a report on cannabis in North Carolina released on April 2.
The North Carolina legislature needs to pass a law regulating the sale of cannabis, the North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis wrote in its interim report.
Gov. Josh Stein appointed the advisory council to make recommendations to “create a safe, legal market for adults that protects kids,” he said in a June 2025 announcement.
Gummies, drinks, and other edibles containing intoxicating THC derived from hemp are currently legal. North Carolina has no age restrictions on sales, so children can buy them.
“Intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid products, often marketed as legal alternatives to marijuana, are being sold in an environment without any uniform standards for manufacturing, testing, labeling, packaging, or age verification, and absent any enforcement or oversight authority,” the advisory council report states.
“As a result, North Carolina’s cannabis marketplace has been characterized as a ‘wild west’ landscape. North Carolinians — including our youth — can legally purchase intoxicating hemp-derived products devoid of any potency limits, standardized laboratory testing, or clear labeling requirements, raising significant and widespread concerns regarding consumer safety, youth access, and public health. The absence of statewide enforcement authority and regulatory guardrails have created uncertainty for consumers, responsible businesses, healthcare providers, educators, parents, and law enforcement and most importantly, have put North Carolinians at risk.”
The legislature has attempted to pass laws regulating hemp-derived products, but differences between Republicans in the House and Senate have doomed those efforts.
Discussion of regulating THC in the state is taking place against a shifting federal backdrop.
A 2018 federal Farm Bill legalized hemp production and paved the way for legal sales of products containing THC. A federal law passed last year meant to close “the Farm Bill loophole” caps the amount of THC in each container. Producers and sellers of products containing THC derived from hemp say the restriction will drive them out of business.
Read more: Charlotte Hemp Professionals Face Uncertain Future Under New Federal Rules
Last December, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that would ease restrictions on marijuana, making it easier to conduct research into medical uses. The order also encourages revisiting the hemp-derived THC limits.
The state advisory council is set to produce a final report in December.
Among its recommendations so far are regulating products based on total THC, no matter whether it comes from hemp or marijuana.
The advisory council co-chairs, Dr. Lawrence Greenblatt, state health director and chief medical officer at the NC Department of Health and Human Services, and Robeson County District Attorney Matthew Scott, propose a legal, regulated market for adults, with protections for medical marijuana users.
“Under this framework, adults would be permitted to legally purchase, possess, and use cannabis through state-licensed retail outlets. An adult-use market provides the state with a full regulatory framework and the tools necessary to manage it responsibly,” the report reads.
The day the report was published, Gov. Stein released a statement thanking the council for its work and reiterating the “Wild West” narrative that inspired it.
“Last year, I charged this group with developing a comprehensive solution to the unregulated sale of cannabis that is grounded in public health and public safety, with a special focus on keeping young people safe,” Stein wrote.
“This report provides the General Assembly with guidance and makes clear that a well-regulated market, including both oversight and enforcement authority, is a safer market for our state. Our state’s unregulated cannabis market today is the Wild West and is crying for order. Let’s get this right. Let’s protect our kids and create a safe, legal, and well-regulated market for adults.”
NCGA will convene for its short session on Tuesday, April 21.
Read more: CBHD Lobbies for NC Hemp as ‘Industry Killer’ Looms
This article was originally published by NC Newsline, part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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