North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein this week called on state lawmakers to legalize marijuana and create a regulated market for cannabis sales, online cannabis news source Marijuana Moment reported . In a post shared on the social media platform X on Monday, the Democratic governor wrote that the state House of Representatives was expected to consider legislation approved by the Senate that “aims to eliminate the Wild West that is North Carolina’s THC market.”

“For some reason, the bill also legalizes kratom, an opioid-like substance sometimes called gas station heroin, and fails to include any meaningful age restrictions,” he added . “The legislature should be focused on creating a safe and well-regulated adult THC market that protects kids.”

Stein Reiterates Cannabis Legalization Stance

The next day, Stein told reporters that the bill passed by the North Carolina Senate, House Bill 328, does not adequately protect consumers and children from the potential dangers of intoxicating hemp THC products. If adopted, the bill would prohibit all hemp products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids, effectively banning most hemp products available today.

“What we need to do is have a well-regulated THC market for adults to do whatever they want to do, where they know what they’re buying, they know the quantity and they know what the ingredients are and we need to completely protect kids,” Stein said after Tuesday’s North Carolina Council of State meeting, according to a report from the Carolina Journal . “That is not happening with the law today and unfortunately, that bill that the legislature is thinking about doesn’t get us there either.”

“We have this in the law for alcohol and cigarettes,” he said. “Why do we make it easy for them to sell hemp and kratom to kids? There’s no reason. If they have good intention, they would have real age gating and they don’t have real age gating in this bill.”

Cannabis Policy Reform Advocate ‘Delighted’ By Calls For Legalization

Kevin Caldwell, senior manager of legislative affairs for the advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), applauded the governor’s call for a regulated cannabis market.

“MPP was delighted that Gov. Josh Stein re-iterated his stance that the General Assembly should be focusing on regulating THC products, not banning them,” Caldwell writes in an emailed statement. “Prohibition is a failed big government experiment.”

“Cannabis, whether hemp or marijuana, has been part of North Carolina culture for decades, pretending that the legislators actually have the power to make this industry go away is not based in reality,” he adds. “If the hemp industry would be shut down, that industry would go back to the illicit market- where it thrived for decades.”

North Carolina House Leadership Delays Vote On Hemp THC Ban

The North Carolina House of Representatives was expected to vote on House Bill 328 on Tuesday. But Republican Speaker Destin Hall said after the day’s session that the vote would be delayed until after the November election, saying lawmakers “want to make sure they’re solving the problem and not making the problem worse, or doing something with unintended consequences.”

“What I plan to do is put together a group of our members to take a look at this issue and figure out the right path forward,” Hall said, according to a report from NC Newsline.

While the postponed vote on House Bill 328 gives lawmakers an opportunity to regulate cannabis, Caldwell of MPP notes that the legislature refused to hold hearings for a medical cannabis legalization during this year’s session.

“The inaction of the General Assembly is not about protecting youth; it is about social control,” he writes. “In less than a year, millions of North Carolinians will have access to cannabis products across the border in Virginia as well as currently in the Qualla Boundary at the dispensary run by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.”

“It is past time for cannabis prohibition to be in the rearview mirror in North Carolina, the future lies in regulating and taxing adult use cannabis,” Caldwell adds. “The illicit market has been an abject failure at protecting the youth of America.”