NORTH CAROLINA, USA — The first medical marijuana dispensary opened its doors over the weekend on the Qualla boundary, home to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. This tribal land is a sovereign nation with its own laws and government.
For the rest of North Carolina, medical marijuana use and sale are still illegal, but some lawmakers have been working to change this. With the 2024 NC legislative session back this week, some Charlotte hemp and smoke shop owners hope to see medical marijuana back in rounds of discussions.
Local shop owners said they remain hopeful that medical marijuana will one day be legal across North Carolina and are hoping for sooner rather than later because of how many people they said it could help.
“I think it is the natural evolution that it should happen and I think it is way overdue,” Blake Barnes, owner of The Common Market Plaza Midwood, said.
“It just seems like a no-brainer to me that this is here, and the need is there,” Nicole Burnette, CEO, Founder, Owner, Director of Genetics & Cultivation for Queen Hemp Company, said.
For six years, Queen Hemp Co. has been growing and producing hemp-based products. Burnette said they were fortunate to get the license as a part of the pilot program for industrial hemp in Mecklenburg County and from there launched its entire business platform.
“We do online and then retail through markets and pop-ups,” Burnette said.
Its wholesale also supports local shops in Charlotte, like Barnes’ Market.
“We do the gummies, we have some pens, and all different levels,” Barnes said. “One thing that has really taken off are these teas, drinks, seltzers.”
Both business owners said they want to see medical marijuana legalized, adding they have seen its benefits firsthand.
For Burnette, it’s something that hits home.
“It’s personal for me. My dad is stage four metastatic. He uses it for appetite. He is undergoing chemo and uses it to help stimulate his appetite,” Burnette said. “He also uses it for pain.”
For Barnes, it’s his father-in-law.
“I have intimate knowledge because of my wife’s father in Virginia and we have it there,” Barnes said. “It has helped him so much ... he has cancer, and it has made things much more palatable for him.”
As state lawmakers return for the 2024 legislative short session, shop owners hope to see medical marijuana resurface for discussion. The state senate passed the NC Compassionate Care Act last year but it stalled in the house.
“I think that's a lot of the fear that people have ... that it's not going to be regulated, and that something could go wrong,” Burnette said. “I think that when you build it the right way, the right kind of program, it will have those checks and balances in place.”
North Carolina lawmakers reconvene on April 24.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.