NC senators vote on bill to legalize medical marijuana

Senate will come to order Sergeant Arms to close the

doors

Members will return to their seats

Members and guests will please silence all electronic devices leading

the Senate in prayer

Today is Senator kevin Corbin of Macon County

All members and guests will please stand

the present

Let's pray

Yeah father we come to you today thankful for all

the blessings you've given us

We thank you for all the ones here that works

so hard and care so much for our state

God we ask your guidance as we make important decisions

and we give you honor praise and glory for all

that we do in christ's name

Amen

Senator Heist is recognized for emotion

Thank you Mr President The journal of june 1st 2022

has been examined and found to be correct and moved

to dispense with the reading of the Journal stand approved

as read Without objection

The journal for June 1 2022 is approved as written

Members leaves of absence are requested without objection

Are granted for Senators

Ballard bazemore Jarvis Crow vic and Robinson mm hmm

Right thank you

Upon the motion of Senator julie Mayfield of buncombe County

The chair is happy to extend courtesies of the gallery

to Taylan breeden

Nicolette bag

Leo Gabriel Gabriel Gerald Katie Gorski and crystal Salinas

If you're in the gallery

If you please stand to be recognized

Thank you for being with us today

Yeah I believe we're ready to start on the calendar

Um Public Bill's 3rd Reading

Roll Call

House Bill 1 49

Clerk will read House for 1 49 expanding access to

health care

Okay center heist is recognized to explain the bill

Thank you

Mr

President Members of the Senate

I think we said

And I said all that can be said on the

bill yesterday

And uh as evidenced by the meter that were coming

in

But I do have a real quick amendment that is

technical

I'd like to send forward and forward your amendment clerk

will read senator Heist moves to amend the bill

Center Heist is recognized to explain

Remember amendment three

Thank you

Mr

President Again this actually comes from staff and is a

purely wording technical

We were close to being able to sign off on

it but I thought it was a better process to

just be able to make these changes here and ask

for your support Discussion or debate on Amendment three

Carrington question for the Senate is the adoption of amendment

three to house bill 1 49

All in favor of the amendment will vote I'll oppose

vote no five seconds be allowed for the voting clerk

record the vote

dr

Garrett ah 45 having voted in the affirmative none in

the negative

Amendment three is adopted and the bill is back before

us

Is there discussion or debate On 3rd Reading for House

Bill 1 49

Harrington question for the Senate

Is the passage of the Senate committee substitute the House

bill 1 49 on its third reading all in favorable

vote aye

All opposed to vote no five seconds be allowed for

the voting clerk record the vote

Mhm

40 for having voted in the affirmative one in the

negative

House Bill 1 49 has passed its third reading

The amendments will be engrossed

The bill will be returned to the House on the

issue of concurrence Mr

President Senator raven

For what purpose Your eyes move that House Bill 1

49 be sent to the house by a special message

that objection

So water

Senate Bill 7 11 Clerk will read Senate Bill 7

11 N

C

Compassionate care act

Senator raven is recognized to explain the bill

Thank you Mr

President

Before I get into the bill

Ladies and gentlemen I want to give special thanks to

this Jessica bony for all of her hard work and

helping us bring this excuse me to fruition uh to

my co sponsors uh Senator Low and Senator lee and

two uh Senator Harrington for her work on the bill

as well

Um We have arrived at a new place and I

think it's a good place

We just sent a we just sent a bill to

the House

Uh That is gonna help a lot of people in

north Carolina and hopefully on its heels we can send

another bill to the house

Uh That's going to help a lot of people in

north Carolina

They're different in nature

Uh huh

The bill that we just passed has to do with

helping a lot of people who uh need help and

can't really afford to help themselves

Uh This bill is going to in my opinion help

a lot of people at the end of their life

at a time that that they need some compassion at

a time that what few days and what little time

they have left should be as comfortable and uh as

easy as they can be

And I really believe this is going to do that

before I get into the bill itself

Mr President I would like to send forth an amendment

Send your amendment clerk will read Senator raven moves to

amend the bill

Senator Raven is recognized to explain

Amendment one

Thank you

Mr

President Uh members

Amendment one has come about uh over the the interim

and uh the last year actually after we finished uh

all of the things we did on the bill we

took into consideration some requests that we had from people

that wanted some input and and we actually um tighten

things up a little more and what it does I'll

do it briefly that you have it on your dashboard

It prohibits fish physicians from advertising

Um It prohibits physician conflicts between independent testing laboratories and

suppliers

It requires the department um which we call the N

C

Medical care Commission to enact rules uh to effectuate identification

cards for patients designated caregivers et cetera

It requires uh reports from suppliers and it grants the

production commission the authority to oversee independent testing

That was a request that we that we had from

one of our friends

And it prevents cross ownership between testing laboratories and producers

Ah

There's a little more to it but I'm scared

I'll get the ox meter if I continue on just

a simple amendment

Since you have it

I want that the rest with senator uh with with

senator heist

If you have questions on the amendment I'll be happy

to answer

Okay Discussion or debate on Amendment one

Senator low

For what purpose you rise Speaking on the bill on

the bill or the amendments

Excuse me

I'm sorry Discussion or debate on Amendment one

Hearing on question for the Senate is the adoption of

amendment 12 Senate bill 7 11 all in favor of

the amendment will vote

I'll opposed vote no five seconds be allowed for the

voting clerk record the vote

center Fitch

I 40 for having voted in the affirmative one in

the negative

Amendment one has adopted the bill is back before us

Senator raven to continue the explanation

Thank you

Mr

President

I'm going to give a very brief overview

Senator lee again

We'll give the in depth and we'll be happy to

take questions for

Oh I would assume all of the bill's sponsors

Uh What we're doing is we are initiating what the

bill says uh the compassionate compassionate care in the state

through uh the utilization of cannabis

Yeah we've set up this we've set up this legislation

to be from start to finish and tightly controlled

Uh We have uh looked at other states the good

and the bad

We think that we have uh if not perfected we

have done a better job than anyone so far

Uh And I believe that that will hold us going

forward

This uh this will be very very tightly tightly

Uh I shouldn't say used the term held but uh

manufactured

It will be from start to finish uh traceable trackable

every single supplier grower ah when it goes through the

testing process will be monitored

All right

We think it's hard for me to talk about this

bill folks

Uh We think we've done the right thing

We think that every provision in it start to finish

has been well thought out well laid out

But before you I don't think there's a whole lot

of questions from anyone about what's actually in the bill

that has been in and out of committee so many

times

I can't count

Um And that we have set up through through the

state and through a commission uh some of the strictest

oversight in the nation

We also are allowing uh this commission to uh make

some adjustments as they see necessary and to come back

to us uh if they have questions and or hit

any any bumps along the road

We are putting some of the best people That we

can find

seven by the governor uh for by the legislature on

the commission for oversight to make recommendations and to um

help regulate

And uh

it um it's just a good bill folks

Let it boil down to it's just a good bill

It is it is showing that that we do care

about ah our fellow man and that we do care

about north Carolinians um and that we do want people

um to be able to legally and safely

Uh huh enjoy the time that they have left

And it's just hard

It's very difficult for me

Uh Thank you Senator lee for getting into this in

a minute

But it is just very difficult for me to stand

before people and tell them how important this is

Um Two the people you love where the because that's

what we're really doing and we had to jump through

a lot of hoops to do this and we jumped

through them the right way

We have we've jumped through them the right way

We've been calculating calculated

We have been methodical

We have written and rewritten and taken things out are

taking advice and we have come up with the final

product that I think every person in this chamber

Uh every person and the Legislature um can actually be

proud to say folks some of you don't like this

but it's the right thing to do

And we're gonna help a lot of people

Yeah

Uh that need our help

There's no one in this room that has not had

someone in their family or a close friend uh that

could not have benefited ah from the legislation

And I will tell you all uh that unless you

come to an untimely end every person in this room

and every person you know and you love is going

to die and they're gonna die

One or two things they're gonna die of organ failure

or cancer

Those are the facts they are going to die world

and failure of cancer

And I think it is our duty ah as lawmakers

to pass legislation that helped people who need our help

This is gonna help a lot of people that need

our help and it's gonna help them in a legal

way

It's not going to make them criminals

It is not going to make them ashamed or uh

huh reluctant to seek help if it is recommended to

them by their physician and it's not just any physician

it's the physician who cares enough to go through the

hoops that is in this bill take education courses on

how this can be done and to to uh then

certified or pass it along to his or her patients

Um And I appreciate again I appreciate everyone's support along

the way with this

Uh and I certainly appreciate your support as we move

forward and vote on this bill

Um It's been a long time coming and it's been

a hard lift

It has and we wouldn't have gotten there without a

lot of support your support

And I hope we can pass the those facts along

and and let the people who are going to benefit

from this

Um I know that we support them

Thank you further discussion or debate Senator lee for what

purpose you rise

Speech to the bill

Mr President you have the floor

Um as y'all can tell senator raven has put his

heart and soul into this bill

And Senator Lo and I were talking just the other

day how we appreciate the opportunity to be a part

of this with you

Um and some of y'all have had the opportunity part

of this since it's been through healthcare finance judiciary at

least three times uh and rules

So because it's been through a lot of these committees

I'm just gonna talk about some of the high level

aspects of the bill

And I know it's been kind of a difficult issue

for some folks in this chamber and and actually in

this building because a lot of times what's going on

in other states with respect to recreational marijuana um is

is conflated with medical marijuana

And so I know that makes it difficult and sometimes

blur the lines but this is a very tight bill

um that's intended to produce essentially pharmaceutical grade um products

to help folks with these debilitating conditions

And so is essentially the basic regulatory framework uh is

with DHHS the medical cannabis production commission and then the

compassionate use advisory board

And the bill really falls into two buckets since it's

26 or seven pages long

Um I'll just break it up that way

The first pieces licensing applicants have to meet certain requirements

in the statute and also rules that are promulgated uh

and file those with DHHS DHHS vets those and see

who meets the requirements

And then they can produce up to 22 the production

commission and that from those 20 Uh the production commission

will choose 10 licenses

And you saw on the amendment that enables them each

to have eight essentially retail type outlets for patients to

go to

And at least one of those has to be in

a tier one community

And there are a variety of requirements

I'm not gonna go through all of them and restrictions

but essentially they're there to protect public safety and well

being through extensive provisions not just within the statute but

through the rulemaking process that will come after that

So that's kind of the seed to sale the regulatory

of the cultivation manufacturing distribution and and and sail to

those in need

Mhm

But on the patient's side the patient focused side what

happens is the patient goes to their doctor not just

a doctor um but their doctor the patient and the

physician have to have a bona fide physician patient relationship

And it goes into all the requirements that the physician

has to go through to be able to do this

And Senator Raymond alluded to that with continuing education credits

every single year to learn more about cannabis

And then when the patient or the physician has to

do is they have to certify a variety of different

things

Now let's just a couple number one the debilitating condition

uh that the patient has that the potential health benefits

of this medical use outweighs any health risk

So you get to talk to your physician about this

I mentioned this yesterday in rules you know I've got

a friend of mine who um was diagnosed with cancer

and he had surgery about six or seven weeks ago

He's got his car from here to here and I

saw him over Memorial Day and uh spend some time

with him and he started asking me questions about THC

and delta eight and some of the things that they're

selling in stores

And um he thought that I knew something cause I've

been doing research on this bill

And so it just struck me as odd and I've

never really thought about it that way before

I mean he just wanted to do it in a

legal way

I've known him for a really long time and he's

a bright guy

Um he doesn't need to be talking to me over

a holiday

He needs to be talking to his physician um who

just performed surgery to take out part of an organ

Uh and that's what this bill enables you know in

that certification they've got to put their D

A

Number um and all the other part of information and

then that's the statutory list and the commission finds that

there's some other items they need in that certification

They can go through the rule making process and do

that

Once the patient has a certification to go to DHHS

they make their application DHHS not just doesn't just have

to verify what's on the certificate but a lot of

other information relating to that particular patient and their history

and ability to utilize of this treatment

And then once DHHS um provides them with their card

and their requirements for that too um that are on

the bill that you can take a look at

Uh they go to a dispensary retail outlet whatever you

wanna call it

Um But they're gonna have to know where it is

because there are so many rules contained within the statute

and so many there's an approval process through DHHS um

where they have to get the logo and other things

kind of vetted because this has got to be looked

more like a professional and medical use as opposed to

a retail use and then that patient gets to um

pray that this works because a lot of times nothing

else does

And so the bill allows this process to go on

and it took me four or five minutes or however

long to to talk about that

But but it is a process and it's gonna take

time to put those processes and rules in place

And so hopefully we're able to do that um as

quickly as possible in the best way possible in the

way that the statute lays out so that folks in

our state can get the relief that they need when

they're suffering from some of these very serious and and

in many instances life threatening diseases

Thank you very much

center low for what purpose you rise

Speak on the bill

You have the floor

Mhm

Um after conversation with Senator raben and Senator lee um

I wanted to be a part of this because I

saw it as a way to help people um in

our goal to help people

And that's the only reason that You would be here

for $13,000 a year because you wanted to help somebody

and you wanted to help the people of this state

Um I've been a part of a lot of different

discussions

Some I light and some are I didn't like but

I feel like this is a step forward to help

some folks

It won't help everybody but it will help somebody and

I think that's why we're here

Um I do want to thank um the members of

my own caucus who have been supportive and have challenged

me to think of a lot of things and a

lot of different ways

I want to also thank the members of the majority

caucus who have also challenge me to look at this

in a different way

But ultimately we want to help people and when I

look at what's going on in other states and how

they are making use of cannabis and some of the

people in those states are helped

I see no reason in the world why we in

north Carolina you can't do some of those same things

to help people

This is a medical cannabis bill

He is not recreational it does not do all of

the things that a recreational bill will do

And that's for another day

But right now I believe this bill will help some

north Carolinians and we submit this bill to you and

ask for your support

God bless further discussion or debate Senator Mayfield for what

purpose you rise to speak on the bill and offer

an amendment

You have the floor

I also would like to start off by thanking the

bill's sponsors

Um senators raven lee and low

This is this is this is a bill that the

public clearly wants

Uh it is a bill that many of us in

this chamber want to vote for including me but it

is not quite there yet

Because while this bill will do all of the things

that everybody spoke about and will help lots of people

there

There is a group of people a lot of farmers

and small businesses that it that it will not help

the licensing structure in this bill invites only very large

multistate corporations in to be eligible to participate in this

new market

Indeed no north Carolina company can get one of the

licenses that exists that is that is created in this

bill

Now I understand the desire that went into this structure

too tightly and rigidly and um securely strictly regulate this

new industry

I understand that but we are doing that at the

expense of a lot of homegrown north Carolina businesses

Since we legalized hemp the hemp industry in 2015 we

now have 1500 licensed hemp growers 1300 processors and thousands

of retailers

I have a disproportionate

This will not surprise you

I have a disproportionate share of those people in my

district including two of the women that we welcomed here

earlier this morning earlier today

Indeed a quarter of the entire acreage in the country

that is under hemp production is here in north Carolina

A quarter of the entire production in north in the

country

These farmers and small business owners literally plowed the ground

in north Carolina to make it fertile for the legalization

of marijuana

When we got to that point but none of these

entities can get the licenses that are created in this

bill because none of them are vertically integrated and they're

not vertically integrated because they are small businesses and small

farmers

These are constituencies that this body normally goes to the

mat for repeatedly and and honestly this these are not

constituencies that that I normally stand up for

But because I have so many in my district and

they have been very vocal with me on this I

have I have to raise this and I really am

going I'm going to ask the body that we try

to fix this

I don't understand how we could craft a bill that

leaves out these very important folks

So this amendment that I'm offering will fix it by

requiring the commission center Mayfield sorry do you want to

go ahead and send the amendment up and it's on

the desk

Let's let the clerk read it in and okay okay

great

Thanks

Clerk will read Senator Mayfield moves to amend the bill

Senator Mayfield is recognized to explain the amendment

Thank you

So this bill addresses the problem that I just identified

by directing the commission created in the bill to create

uh separate licenses for growers processors and retailers

Uh there would be a cap on the number of

limit on the number of licenses for each of those

and the price

Well I think we actually didn't address price in this

amendment but um and it and it directs the commission

to uh within the first year of its existence to

create the process and the structure for those licenses and

to come back to us uh if there need to

be structural legislative changes to the bill

So again I ask for your support for this amendment

as a way to protect the thousands of farmers and

small business owners who have staked their livelihood in the

hemp industry with the expectation that they would be able

to move into the marijuana industry when that became legal

in north Carolina either for medical marijuana or for full

legalization whenever that happens

Thank you very much

Yeah I would ask that people in the gallery not

make any demonstrations while the Senate is in session discussion

or debate on amendment to senator heights

What purpose your eyes motion state promotion move the amendment

to do life on the table

Second it's been moved and seconded that amendment to do

lie upon the table

It is a non debatable motion

We will go immediately to a vote question for the

Senate

Is the motion to table amendment to all in favor

of the motion would vote I'll opposed to vote no

five seconds be allowed for the voting clerk record the

vote

centrally

Uh huh

26 Having I'm sorry 27 having voted in the affirmative

18 in the negative the motion to table is adopted

and amendment two does lie upon the table

The bill is back before us further discussion or debate

on Senate bill 7 11 Senator nickel

For what purpose do you rise to speak on the

bill You have the floor

I'm proud to be a co sponsor of this bill

And and want to specifically thank senators Harrington li lo

and and most importantly senator Robin for their leadership on

this issue

39 states have medical marijuana laws on the books

The time for action in North Carolina is now now

a lot of people are going to talk about the

policy in this bill

I'm not gonna do that today

I'm just going to talk about the compassion part and

and I want to say I've been certainly all over

this state in the last several months talking to so

many voters constituents and others and they want action

They want us to come here and fix things and

make their lives better and do it in a bipartisan

way

And this is a great example of what they want

out of our legislature

I want to talk about the title of this bill

is the compassionate care act

And we all heard so much testimony and we've heard

from so many people about what this bill will help

and the problems that will solve

I was especially moved by the volume of soldiers who

served our country honorably and came back with invisible wounds

and we heard about how this saved people's lives who

are suffering from PTSD

But I want to just talk about my story and

I want to talk about my dad Miller nickel a

lot of you had that olive oil that we brought

um that was named after my dad Miller's reserve

And he was a farmer

He loved farming more than anything in the world

It was the only job he ever wanted

And I grew up with him working on the farm

every summer while we decided what we were going to

plant you know

And um he uh he loved his job More than

anything

He was 43 when he died from cancer

I'm 46 now and I never thought I would outlive

him but I have but it was rough dying from

cancer

And I have very vivid memories of being 17 going

to chemo and radiation treatments with him

They have to stop the side of the road and

vomit

And it was horrible

It was hard

And the bottom line about what he went through in

his final days on earth because we all knew he

was going to die

It was bad cancer

But what he did and he did it illegally as

he used marijuana and it helped his suffering in his

final days on earth

And we should not ever prevent anyone else from that

kind of help that we can give them

And we can do that here today

And I ask you to please think about all the

people we've heard from who this bill will help who

are suffering and vote in favor of it

further discussion or debate Senator Xavier

What purpose your eyes speak to the bill

Yeah the floor

Thank you

Mr President

I just wanted this bill is gonna help a lot

of people and what one group specifically that is gonna

help that since my days in the senate in this

chamber I've tried to speak for and that's the veterans

Senator raven

Senator lee senator low

There's an expression in the military

We talk about never leaving a fallen comrade and we've

left many military people that suffer from PTSD many that

we heard warriors that came before us in committee meetings

that talked about the pain that they had and this

is one way that we can help them

Um So from one veteran that has seen the devastation

and some of my friends that have taken their lives

because of PTSD

Thank you for offering another alternative

Thank you for listening to them and thank you for

not leaving them behind

center Bergen for what purpose Your eyes speak to the

bill

You recognize members

We've spent billions of dollars and passed numerous laws to

talk to stop people from smoking

We're now voting on the new version of big tobacco

I appreciate the sponsors desire to help those who are

suffering with physical or mental health issues but marijuana does

not treat the ailment

It only mask the symptoms

I don't support it further discussion or debate Senator Harrington

for purpose

Your eyes speak on the bill

You have the floor

Thank you

Mr President

Um I'd like to thank the bill sponsors raven lee

and low for working on this bill and for those

who have already said they would support it

Um in my time in the General Assembly I've heard

some of the most compelling and passionate testimony that I've

ever heard in committee um over the compassionate care act

from veterans and former law enforcement who suffer from PTSD

I was brought to tears in one committee about a

year ago from some of the most painful and difficult

testimony I've ever listened to

Thank everyone who's going to support this bill and those

brought it forward

It truly is aptly named the compassionate care Act

And I would ask you for your support

Mhm

Further discussion or debate

Mhm

Hearing that question for the Senate is the passage of

the committee substitute to Senate Bill 7 11 on its

second reading

All in favor will vote aye

All opposed vote no five seconds to be allowed for

the voting clerk record

The vote

35 having voted in the affirmative 10 in the negative

Senate Bill 7 11 has passed its second reading and

will remain on the calendar members

I believe that completes our calendar

Uh and that completes our work for this week

We uh are now at a point in time where

we're going to say goodbye to our pages

We want to thank you for being with us this

week

Uh We hope that you have uh enjoyed your experience

We know that we have enjoyed having you in the

chamber and in committee meetings with us

So thank you for being with us and we hope

that you will come back at some point in the

future uh maybe as a member that sits in one

of these chairs

So thank you very much

Thank you notices and announcements