Difference on smokable hemp ban date threatens bill passage

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A one-month difference over when to ban smokable hemp in North Carolina risks scuttling final passage this year of broader legislation designed to regulate the rapidly expanding hemp industry.

The full House scheduled debate for Wednesday on the legislature’s annual farm bill, which has worked its way through several Senate and House committees this year.

Only hemp that lacks the concentration of the compound that gives marijuana its high can be produced, for industrial and health benefits. But law enforcement also wants smokable hemp banned because it looks and smells like marijuana — making it otherwise impossible to differentiate.

While the House legislation would ban smokable hemp next May 1, the Senate’s leading bill backer wants it delayed until June 1, giving lawmakers more time to intervene if needed.