(The Center Square) – Shortly after the House Republican caucus opted against advancing legislation to legalize medical marijuana, the Senate amended and approved an unrelated bill to force the lower chamber to reconsider.
The Senate voted 36-7 on Wednesday to amend House Bill 75, legislation to allow some physician assistants to practice without a supervising physician, to include a provision that ties its fate to the North Carolina Compassionate Care Act.
The Senate ultimately voted 37-3 to send HB75 to the House, where the measure was unanimously approved in February.
The amendment states “this act becomes effective only if, and on the date that, Senate Bill 3, 2023 Regular Session, becomes law. If Senate Bill 3 … does not become law, this act shall be void and of no effect.”
Sen. Natasha Marcus, D-Mecklenburg, posted to Twitter, “We thought the medical marijuana bill was dead. But WAIT! Senate Rules Chair & sponsor of SB3 used an unusual (and boss) move to push @NCHouseGOP to stop blocking it. @NCSenateDems helped pass the Amendment. They get their bill when we get ours. Ball’s in your court NCHouse.”
The move was orchestrated by Brunswick County Republican Sen. Bill Rabon, who has testified about how his use of medical marijuana played a key role in overcoming a battle with colon cancer more than two decades ago.
SB3 cleared the Senate with a bipartisan vote of 36-10 in March but has languished in the House since, receiving only one hearing for information only. It was a similar dynamic last session, when a Rabon bill gained approval in the upper chamber but stalled in the House. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, has said new lawmakers this session improved the bill’s odds for passage.
SB3 would allow patients over the age of 21 with certain debilitating conditions to secure approval from the state to purchase medical marijuana from up to 10 licensed growers, each with up to eight sales centers. A 10% gross revenue fee on sales is expected to generate $50.4 million for the state by 2028-29, according to the most recent fiscal analysis.
Opponents of the bill have argued it provides a gateway to legalizing recreational marijuana, complicates laws dealing with driving under the influence, and put the state at odds with federal law. Marijuana remains a Schedule I drug – deemed to have high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use – under the federal Controlled Substances Act. President Joe Biden has initiated a review of the classification he argues “makes no sense.”
Proponents of SB3 have repeatedly stressed marijuana’s benefits for addressing the symptoms of cancer and other diseases, particularly for the state’s military veterans.
If approved, North Carolina would join 38 states, three territories and the District of Columbia that allow the medical use of cannabis.
