It’s been nearly a year since I’ve written about cannabis issues in the state. Many of the issues I’ve discussed here before remain unresolved, but there has been recent legislation and a new case impacting this area. This post examines the current state of the law on hemp and marijuana. Hemp Legislation. As readers may know, S.L. 2022-32 was passed on June 30, 2022, the same day that the previous laws authorizing legal hemp were set to expire. See G.S. 90-87(16) (2021). A few days later, S.L. 2022-73 was passed as well, which modifies part of S.L. 2022-23 impacting hemp. In short, the legislation permanently authorizes hemp and hemp products in the state. All the changes are directed at distinguishing legal hemp from marijuana and legal THC from illegal THC. Under the former statutory scheme, “industrial hemp” was excluded from the definition of marijuana if it met the requirements of G.S. 106-568.51. The laws in Article 50E of Chapter 106 creating an industrial hemp program expired on June 30 of this year and were not renewed. Thus, hemp is no longer defined by reference to agricultural law and is instead defined by our drug laws in Chapter 90 of the General Statutes. Let’s take a closer look. The New Definitions in G.S. 90-87. This statute has been amended to define hemp and hemp products and to change the definition of marijuana to specifically exclude those products. “Hemp” as defined in the new G.S. 90-87(13a) means all parts of the cannabis plant [...]
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