An interim report from North Carolina’s Advisory Council on Cannabis is urging lawmakers to move toward a legal, regulated marijuana market, arguing that the state’s current mix of illegal marijuana and legal hemp products is untenable.
According to the report, the current market leaves consumers exposed to inconsistent testing, unreliable labeling, contaminants and unexpectedly high THC levels, while also making it harder for law enforcement to distinguish legal hemp products from illegal marijuana.
The panel, created by Governor Josh Stein, says North Carolina now sits in a “dangerous policy gap” where intoxicating cannabinoid products are widely available but remain largely unregulated.
The report recommends that North Carolina adopt legislation establishing a legal adult-use marijuana market with clear oversight and enforcement authority. Stein praised the recommendations, saying they give the General Assembly a roadmap for replacing what he described as a “Wild West” market with a safer and more orderly system for adults.
The report also estimates that North Carolina’s illegal marijuana market is worth roughly $3 billion annually, making it one of the largest underground marijuana markets in the country among prohibition states.
Although North Carolina lawmakers have repeatedly debated marijuana policy, past efforts have focused mostly on medical marijuana and have failed to become law. The advisory council’s report argues that a medical-only system may not solve the state’s broader access and safety issues, particularly for rural residents, lower-income patients and those with limited mobility. It also notes that bills introduced in 2024 and 2025 to restrict youth access to hemp-derived THC products did not pass.
The debate comes as Congress moves to tighten federal hemp rules in a way that could upend the intoxicating hemp market that has spread across North Carolina, with a ban set to take effect this november. The advisory council’s final recommendations are due by December 2026.
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