NC senators vote to legalize medical marijuana for cancer, PTSD and other uses

Public bills

2nd Reading roll call Senate Bill three

The clerk will read Senate Bill three North Carolina Compassionate

Care Act

Senator Raven is recognized to explain the bill

Thank you Mr

President and members

I come to you again with the same bill that

we brought last year

Every time I present this bill I read this text

from the actual legislation because I think it's important for

people to understand what this bill does and what this

bill does not do

So I will start from the top

This article is intended to make only changes to existing

north Carolina laws that are necessary to protect patients and

their doctors from criminal and civil penalties is not intended

to change current civil and criminal laws governing the use

of cannabis for non medical purposes

That's the bill spend the same bill in every committee

That is the bill

The purpose of the bill is to allow for tightly

regulated use of medical cannabis only by those with debilitating

illnesses

The bill limits the use of medical cannabis to people

certified by their doctor to have a debilitating conditions such

as cancer epilepsy A

L

S

Close disease Parkinson's to the P

T

S

D

Or a terminal illness

The recreational sale or use of marijuana remains under this

legislation as illegal

The bill sets up a licensing licensing and regulatory authority

under D

H

H

S

To limit the production and sale of medical cannabis to

no more than 10 suppliers in the entire state

Those suppliers must meet strict requirements for how to locate

and operate their facilities how to grow their cannabis and

how to package and sell their inventory

They must track every product from seed to sale products

must be independently tested for safety and suppliers are banned

from most forms of advertising including any advertising that might

appear appeal to minors on the patient's side

After obtaining certification from the doctor

A patient must also apply to DHHS for registration card

and may only possess a 30 day supply of cannabis

products as determined by their doctor

We have accepted significant input from law enforcement on the

bill and law enforcement will have access to numerous records

and databases necessary to verify that patients are eligible and

that suppliers are in compliance with the provisions of this

bill

Both production of facilities and cannabis centers are also subject

to random searches by law enforcement and DHHS

The system is designed to be self funded and not

to require recurring appropriations

Uh Senator low or I or senator lee will be

happy to answer questions

That is the bill as it is structured and uh

thank you all hope we can count on your support

discussion or debate

Senator Bergen for what purpose your eyes

Thank you Mr President to speak to the bill

You have the floor

Thank you sir

I do appreciate the sponsors and I especially appreciate the

primary sponsor and and and his um his what he's

been through and and and I've told him that many

times marijuana is not medicine

Um It's not approved by the FDA USDA H

H

S

V

A

Um You can't sell it in a pharmacy

Um And so it's it's not medicine

It's not been through the rigorous testing of medicines

It's bad for kids

I think this bill sets up big government and I

think it can easily be changed to legalize marijuana

Thank you sir

Further discussion or debate

Hearing the question for the Senate is the passage of

the committee substitute for Senate Bill three on its second

reading

All in favor of the bill will vote aye

All opposed to vote no five seconds be allowed for

the voting clerk record the vote

36 having voted in the affirmative 10 in the negative

Senate Bill three has passed its second reading and will

remain on the calendar