North Carolina House Minority Leader Robert Reives (D), who is running for House speaker with the Democratic Party’s backing, indicated on Tuesday that the new Democratic majority in the chamber will likely take up a medical cannabis legalization bill next year, The News & Observer reports. North Carolina is one of just a few states that have not legalized cannabis for any purpose.
During a press conference, Reives told reporters that House Democrats have “always been interested in” medical cannabis legalization and that “decriminalization of marijuana is on top of everybody’s mind.”
The Republican-controlled Senate has previously passed medical cannabis legalization bills, but those bills have never been considered by the House, which has also been under Republican control.
Reives indicated that he would not support a bill “picking winners and losers in the industry,” alluding to previous proposals in the state that would have legalized medical cannabis but limited industry participation to just a few companies.
“It is an industry just like any other industry, and so if we authorize it, it should be authorized in such a way that our farmers, (with) agriculture still our top industry, that all of them have an opportunity to make that decision to be involved in (the) process.” — Reives during a press conference via The News & Observer
Previous legislation that passed the Senate, sponsored by Senate Rules Committee Chairman Bill Rabon (R), would have allowed companies to be vertically integrated and imposed dispensary caps.
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