“We all want to be compassionate and help people in need,” Jere Royall of the NC Family Policy Council told member of the Senate Rules Committee Thursday morning, before sharing his dismay about the latest version of House Bill 563. A day earlier, a lengthy amendment was added to the bill regulating hemp-derived consumables to legalize medical marijuana in North Carolina.
“We appreciate the overall effort of this bill to address the availability of substances that are harmful to children and adults. We agree with making Kratom and tianeptine, referred to as ‘gas station heroin,’ illegal to manufacture, sell or possess. However, adding the legalization of marijuana’s medicine to this bill is contrary to the positions stated for years by the Food and Drug Administration, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American Medical Association,” Royall said.
Royall told the lawmakers that marijuana use came with immense public health risks including intoxication, impaired cognition, and addiction.
But Senator Bill Rabon, a cancer survivor and the primary sponsor of the Compassionate Care Act, was having none of it.
The chairman of the Rules Committee told his colleagues that the medical marijuana legislation was more germane than ever as they considered how to regulate numerous hemp-derived consumable products and supplements that are currently unregulated and readily available to children.
Rabon said they should also realize that there is very little difference between products like Delta 9 and marijuana.
“They are the same. They’re more closely akin than two oak trees growing out front. They are the same genus, same species, same product,” said Rabon.
The Brunswick County Republican said there was an urgency to pass comprehensive legislation this session addressing marijuana usage before the federal government moves cannabis from Schedule I to a less-restrictive Schedule III classification.
The Biden administration announced in late April its intent to remove marijuana from a list of the most highly regulated drugs.
“It’s going to happen. We can be in control, or they can be in control,” Rabon warned.
Rabon said those who would benefit from medical-grade cannabis have been dying every day for the six years that he has been working on this legislation.
“I want to know where the compassion in this room is? I want to know because I’m not seeing it. It’s ridiculous people, it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Last year, Rabon shared his own story of using marijuana illegally during his aggressive treatment for colon cancer. Then and now, he credits its use with saving his life.
“People that need help have the right to try to stay alive to stay with their loved ones another day….to feel good about life, not to be put on morphine, so they don’t know what world they’re in, to have a conversation with their loved ones before they die,” Rabon pushed. “If you’re scared of the boogie man, sleep with the lights on.”
Rev. Mark Creech with the Christian Action League joined the Family Policy Council in opposing medicinal cannabis, pointing out the problem of bundling Senate Bill 3 with legislation (House Bill 563) that has won bipartisan support.
“With the deepest respect, I suggest that such tactics erode public trust and compromise good government,” said Creech. “I do not wish to be hypocritical, I’m sure someone can probably cite a time when I supported a bill that was passed by the same means and I never raised any opposition to it, but I wished I hadn’t done that so that the force of my argument might be stronger today.”
Creech said bundling the medical marijuana bill with the hemp bill unfairly forces many legislators into an all or nothing decision in the waning days of the session.
Rabon said those dead set against medical marijuana need to have walked a mile in his shoes.
“I was ready to give up. I couldn’t eat and there’s not a trash can in this room that would hold how much vomit I’d throw up every day,” he shared.
Guardrails to prevent misuse
Rabon said a more dangerous approach would be for the legislature to take no action, leaving desperate individuals to self-treat themselves for their terminal illness.
Under the Compassionate Care Act, doctors could authorize cannabis in treating more than a dozen debilitating medical condition including cancer, AIDS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A written certification from the doctor would specify the amount and dosage of the cannabis or cannabis-infused product, and the period of time for which the certification is valid.
“So, you can preach to me folks all you want about loving your fellow man. If you love your fellow man, you’ll try to make every day of their life better. You’ll try to do it in a way that protects the rest of the population.”
Rabon’s argument helped move House Bill 563 through the Senate Rules Committee on a voice vote Thursday morning. By Thursday afternoon, the bill passed an initial vote (33-9) on the Senate floor.
One more vote by the Senate on Monday, and the medical marijuana legislation will be back before the state House.
House Speaker Tim Moore has previously said that there was not support in his chamber for the measure to pass. That was before the federal government moved to reclassify the drug.
Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia permit medical marijuana use.
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