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Medical marijuana to get hearing in NC Senate

State senators will discuss a bill Wednesday that would legalize marijuana in North Carolina to treat a number of ailments.

Posted Updated

By
Travis Fain
, WRAL statehouse reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — State senators will discuss a bill Wednesday that would legalize marijuana in North Carolina to treat a number of ailments.

No vote is expected, but this is a key first step for a measure that has a powerful sponsor in Senate Rules Chairman Bill Rabon.

"It helps a lot of people," Rabon, R-Brunswick, said of marijuana Tuesday afternoon. "It certainly ameliorates some conditions."

Senate Bill 711 lays out a new regulatory structure for medical cannabis that would let doctors prescribe it for a number of conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and other comparable debilitating conditions.

Rabon said bill writers dropped a couple of conditions from the bill's original list, including glaucoma.

The measure wouldn't legalize recreational use and says it would still be illegal to drive while under the influence of marijuana.

As Senate Rules chairman, Rabon helps decide what bills live and die at the General Assembly, but he said Tuesday that he has no assurances from his colleagues that this bill will ultimately pass the Senate.

"It's a sensitive issue," he said.

But Rabon was passionate on the matter. He said he'd like to see the law also allow marijuana as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, and he mentioned an effort from House Republicans to cut taxes for retired veterans.

"We want to give them tax breaks. We want to do all these things. We put them on a pedestal," he said. "We ought to be willing to do something to save their lives."

The bill is slated to be heard in the Senate Judiciary committee at 1 p.m.

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