NC House Pumps the Brakes on NC Senate's Rush to Harsh Your Vibe

 

Today a bill, H 328, "Regulate Hemp-Derived Consumables," got fast-tracked and passed the same day in the NC Senate, with some 14 of the 20 Democrats in the Senate voting for it. The House's original H 328, which the Senate hijacked and wrote its own substitute, would have required public schools to adopt policies prohibiting hemp-derived consumable products in school buildings, on school grounds, and at school-sponsored events. Okay. We all can support limiting easy access to intoxicating hemp products for minors, but the North Carolina Healthy Alternatives Association (NCHAA) sez the new Senate rewrite is a bad bill for the future of the billion-dollar state hemp industry. 

The House adjourned without taking up the the Senate's substitute H 328, and Speaker Destin Hall appeared resistant to it: “It’s up to the [House] caucus, at the end of the day,” Hall said. “It was a complicated bill, and so folks are going to have probably a month to digest it and see if they approve of it,” he told reporters. The General Assembly plans to reconvene on July 27th.

"Complicated," Destin Hall said, which sounds like a warning to me.

The NCHAA thinks it will overnight send North Carolina's booming hemp industry into the crapper: 

• Cannabinoid Ban: HB 328 bans all cannabinoids except for Delta-9 THC, even non-psychoactive compounds like CBD. This is a direct contradiction of the federal definition of hemp and would eliminate many therapeutic products that consumers depend on.

• Potency Caps: The bill caps edibles at just 10mg of Delta-9 THC per serving. For comparison, most popular hemp-derived gummies on the national market range from 25 to 50mg per serving. These caps would force companies to reformulate or exit the North Carolina market entirely.

• Vape Restrictions: It also limits vape cartridges to 3ml total Delta-9 THC—an unrealistic threshold that, from a manufacturing standpoint, is virtually unworkable.

• Exorbitant Licensing Fees: HB 328 requires a $25,000 license fee for manufacturers and $500 per retail location with no cap. These costs are far beyond the reach of small operators and would create massive entry barriers that favor large out-of-state corporations.

• Criminal Penalties: The bill authorizes criminal charges—including Class H felonies—for unlicensed sales. It also imposes escalating fines and empowers the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division (ALE) to revoke licenses and issue penalties of up to $7,500 per violation.

NCHAA concludes: "These are not minor adjustments. These are measures designed to constrict the industry, cut out competition, and centralize the hemp market into the hands of a few."