Legal weed in North Carolina? New bills give state lawmakers multiple options

Democrats in the North Carolina General Assembly have made it clear they want to change the state’s marijuana laws, and they’re giving the legislature’s Republican majority several ideas on how to do so.

The two newest marijuana bills were filed Wednesday in the Senate. One would legalize medical marijuana, like most states have already done. The other would fully legalize weed, even for non-medicinal uses, which 15 other states have already done.

“We want to leave no stone unturned,” said Sen. Wiley Nickel, a Cary Democrat, who is a sponsor or co-sponsor of both bills. “I think in states that have moved forward, there’s usually more support for medical. I think that’s probably the first step for North Carolina. Although I personally support full legalization.”

Public polling shows that while full legalization is not as popular as medical marijuana, both have the support of the majority of North Carolinians.

“I suspect there may be some willingness to give the medical marijuana bill a hearing, and maybe even pass it this session,” said Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, a Raleigh Democrat. “I think there are now 37 states that have passed this.”

Similar bills have been filed in the past but Republican leaders have not allowed any to come up for a vote, and most were never even heard in committee. When asked about new polling last winter showing widespread support for medical marijuana, Republican Senate leader Phil Berger declined to comment.

The medical marijuana bill is Senate Bill 669. The full legalization bill is Senate Bill 646.

Medical vs. recreational

Nickel said research shows marijuana is a legitimate treatment for some medical problems — and that in the real world, it works well enough that people will use it to medicate, whether legal or not.

For him it’s personal. His dad alleviated some of the symptoms of his cancer by illegally using marijuana, before he died. And he doesn’t want others to have to risk breaking the law just to get help.

“I wouldn’t want to deprive anyone of the means to help in a situation like my father’s,” Nickel said.

As for the bill with full legalization, Chaudhuri, who sponsored it, said it would create jobs and add millions of dollars into the state economy by taxing something that people are already buying. But there’s also the racial equity and criminal justice reform aspect, he said.

“This bill is also about restorative justice because we know that while Black and white people use marijuana at the same rate, Black people are more than 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for it,” he said.

What do people think?

Marijuana legalization is popular in the United States, even among people who don’t use the drug.

Earlier this year a poll of North Carolina voters by Elon University found 73% of people would support medical marijuana, including nearly two-thirds of Republicans.

“On most issues where you have almost 80% support for legalization, you see it get legalized,” Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll, told The News & Observer at the time. “Not in North Carolina, though.”

Other conservative-leaning states that have legalized medical marijuana, like Utah, Arkansas, West Virginia and Mississippi, have done so with citizen-led ballot initiatives in which people gather signatures to put a proposal on the ballot. But those are not allowed in North Carolina, leaving the decision in the hands of the legislature alone.

However, in national politics, Democrats now have control of Congress for the first time in a decade. And one major push from them, Politico reported this weekend, will be marijuana legalization. Democratic President Joe Biden has said he supports medical marijuana but not full legalization, USA Today reported, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told Politico “we will move forward” on full legalization anyway.

Legalization vs decriminalization

Legalization, whether full or just for medical marijuana, isn’t the only possible change. Prior to Wednesday, Democrats had also filed bills to decriminalize marijuana or create more diversion programs as an alternative to court.

Under decriminalization, people caught with small amounts of marijuana by the police would get a civil fine, like a traffic ticket, but no criminal charges. And it would still be illegal to sell it, either on the street or in a dispensary.

Under legalization, marijuana would be legal to use — either for all adults or just for people with medical needs, depending on the type of legalization. Under both full legalization and medical legalization, it would still be illegal to deal pot on the street. But dispensaries, regulated and taxed by the state, would be allowed to open.

Decriminalization, not legalization, is the path favored by a task force commissioned by Gov. Roy Cooper last year.

Some local prosecutors and police officials have already started decriminalizing weed — like District Attorney Jim Woodall in Orange and Chatham counties, The News & Observer reported last year — but those efforts are only on a local basis. It would take the legislature to make the changes statewide.

One bill filed last month, House Bill 290, would do just that.

In Durham in 2016, the city council unanimously approved an order that police work on a formal policy to stop arresting people for misdemeanor amounts of weed, and give them a fine instead.

And in Wake County, where Nickel is a criminal defense attorney when he’s not at the legislature, he said prosecutors have started using more diversion options, to let people facing minor drug charges avoid getting a criminal record. Another bill filed last month, Senate Bill 483, touches on both decriminalization and diversion programs.

Nickel said that even if Republican lawmakers aren’t ready to make big changes with legalization, he hopes they might be willing to take some of what individual police chiefs and prosecutors are doing on decriminalization, and expand it statewide.

“I’m hopeful at least we will continue efforts on decriminalization,” he said. “Our police should be focusing on bigger, more important issues.”

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