NEWS
Uncertainty lingers
Hemp industry worries about ‘legal gray area’
BY JESSICA WAKEMAN jwakeman@mountainx.com For many people, late spring is a time to relax. But among those in Western North Carolina’s hemp industry, May and June brought weeks of anxiety over the possibility of their businesses taking a massive hit. Since 2015, hemp has been legal in North Carolina through legislation passed by the General Assembly distinguishing it from marijuana, which remains an illicit substance in the state. This legislation, however, contained a sunset provision that had been set to go into effect June 30. WNC’s hemp industry waited for the General Assembly to extend the plant’s definition because otherwise, hemp and CBD products might suddenly become illegal to sell. On June 30, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 762 (the 2022 Farm Bill) with language distinguishing marijuana from hemp, and Gov. Roy Cooper signed it. Cooper also signed Senate Bill 455, which explicitly legalized hemp. That arrangement might have seemed to be the end of the hemp
Marijuana or hemp? Marijuana and hemp are part of the same plant genus. The plants have historically been treated differently in the law due to their levels of the psychoactive substance tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which causes a “high.” Marijuana contains 0.3% or more of THC, and under the N.C. Controlled Substance Act, it is a Schedule 6 controlled substance. Possession of marijuana is punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor. Conversely, hemp and hemp products contain 0.3% or less of THC, and they are legal to cultivate and sell. Senate Bill 455, which was signed by Gov. Roy Cooper June 30, spelled out that marijuana is illicit due to its THC, but noted an exception “for tetrahydrocannabinols found in hemp or hemp products.” X
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AMBIGUITY: The language in SB 711 currently creates “a huge legal gray area,” says Nicolette Baglio, owner of Asheville-based Citizen Bloom Botanics. She believes the ambiguity has been intentional by lobbyists for the legal cannabis industry, as it would group hemp and cannabis together. Photo by Neil Jacobs industry’s woes, but local businesses say it would be premature to stop there. To give the sector a bigger voice in shaping its own future, Nicolette Baglio, owner of Asheville hemp-based wellness brand Citizen Bloom Botanics, recently partnered with Raleigh-based lawyer Morgan Davis to form the N.C. Cannabis Business Commission — the state’s first cannabis-focused chamber of commerce. A NASCENT INDUSTRY When Cooper signed SB 455, he released a statement saying the ability “to participate in this growing market is the right thing to do for rural communities and our economy.” The potential for a growing market is of interest to Baglio and Davis, the latter of whom specializes in hemp and cannabis law. (Davis says about 25% of her clientele is from WNC.) The N.C. Cannabis Business Commission is their attempt to ensure that market develops favorably for the state’s existing hemp and cannabis businesses.
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“The idea is to give the industry a place to come together. That would mean plant-touching cultivators, product companies, wholesalers, extractors,” Davis explains. “Hopefully, we would have members of the banking community join who have hemp divisions and members of insurance companies who have hemp divisions join.” One local banker with an eye on North Carolina’s growing market is Ross Sloan, senior vice president of hemp/cannabis banking at West Town Bank & Trust in Asheville. This year, Sloan assisted hemp cultivators in North Carolina with the transition to U.S. Department of Agriculture oversight, and he says approximately 5%-10% of his current hemp industry clients are in WNC. That clientele, of course, could increase based on what happens in the General Assembly. “North Carolina being a conservative state, I think we’ll move slowly — which is OK,” Sloan tells Xpress. “Those of us that are proponents for medical cannabis all want it to move as quickly as possible. But I think we’d rather it move deliberately and get it right.”
Tarleton Wamsley, who co-owns the West Asheville cannabis lifestyle shop Garden Party, also wants any cannabis legislation to be deliberate. She would like North Carolina to legalize and develop an industry for recreational cannabis, as well as medical cannabis, and support equal access to licensing and business ownership. In particular, Walmsley says, she supports the expungement of the criminal records “of people who’ve been harmed through the war on drugs, who’ve been criminalized through this process.” New York, for example, prioritized people with marijuana convictions for dispensary licenses, who are disproportionately nonwhite. Says Walmsley, “We have an opportunity in North Carolina to look at other states who have either legalized medically or recreationally and do it better.” ‘A HUGE LEGAL GRAY AREA’ Among the most pressing issues for the N.C. Cannabis Business Commission is Senate Bill 711,