N.C. bill to legalize medical marijuana picking up support | Govt-and-politics

The pressure on legalized marijuana has increased in recent years. As of this year, 36 states and four territories allow the medicinal use of cannabis and 17 states, two territories and the District of Columbia have enacted laws regulating adult cannabis use.

Marijuana is still illegal in North Carolina, although it has been decriminalized in some ways. Possession of marijuana can be punished with a prison sentence of up to 21 months, depending on your criminal record and possession.

“With New York and Virginia just legalizing it differently, we hope North Carolina can hop on the legalization bandwagon,” said Laura White, owner of Soul Addict, a cannabis breeder and producer. “When you have a little more THC in your products, we often see that patients experience greater levels of relief.”

Berkowitz, White, and Biddix said they met people who moved outside the law and bought marijuana with the intent of self-medication, mostly with positive results for the user.

However, buying drugs in an unregulated market without the guidance of a doctor carries significant risks.

“If you buy it on the black market, you don’t know what’s inside. You’ve read about people taking fentanyl and people taking an overdose, ”said Biddix. “If it were legalized, it would guarantee that people would buy some safer, lab-tested, more carefully grown crops to treat.”