People in the state spent an estimated $3.2 billion on illegal marijuana in 2022, according to the report. An advisory committee has recommended changes.
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An advisory committee in North Carolina has recommended that lawmakers create an adult-use marijuana system in hopes of regulating the multibillion-dollar “Wild West” market.
North Carolina is one of only 10 states and three U.S. territories without a regulated adult-use marijuana market or medical marijuana program, according to a draft report from the state’s Cannabis Advisory Committee released April 2. In the absence of a legal market, consumers in the state spent an estimated $3.2 billion on illegal marijuana in 2022, according to the U.S. Cannabis Report cited by the council.
Meanwhile, the council said cannabis-derived cannabinoid products are being sold as legal alternatives to marijuana and are being sold without uniform standards or meaningful oversight. The industry is worth about $1 billion, the council said.
“North Carolina’s intoxicating cannabis market currently exists in a dangerous policy gap with neither true prohibition nor meaningful regulation,” the report states.
The council recommended that Congress eliminate the “legal but unworkable distinction between marijuana and hemp” and establish “an adult-use regulatory model that incorporates protections for medical consumers.” This model would allow adults to purchase, possess, and use marijuana through state-licensed retailers.
A final report containing detailed regulatory recommendations is expected to be published by the council in December. Gov. Josh Stein, who founded the council, said in a statement that the report found a legally regulated market is safer for the state.
“Today, our state’s unregulated cannabis market is the Wild West and demands order,” Stein said. “Let’s get this right. Let’s protect our children and create a safe, legal, and well-regulated market for adults.”
The North Carolina report comes after several important developments at the federal level. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in December that federally classified marijuana as a less dangerous substance.
And legislation to reopen the government after the shutdown in 2025 would close loopholes that allowed the sale of many hemp-derived products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The ban is scheduled to take effect in November.
The report said states have varied in their responses to the federal changes, creating a patchwork of disparate regulations. In neighboring Virginia, for example, Gov. Abigail Spanberger is expected to sign a bill allowing retail marijuana sales to begin in 2027, the report said.
“If surrounding states adopt regulated cannabis programs and North Carolina does not, the state could effectively become a prohibition jurisdiction within a regulated market, a dynamic that could complicate enforcement and impact the distribution of products and consumers across state lines,” the council said.
The report was released just before the North Carolina General Assembly convened a short session. Lawmakers have recently proposed legislation to help establish medical marijuana and adult-use programs.
But lawmakers have so far been unable to reach an agreement on cannabis regulations, with two top lawmakers recently expressing concerns about the council’s recommendations, suggesting further impasse could ensue, The News & Observer reported.
“It’s remarkable that we would release a report that seeks to legalize marijuana, even though we know that young people are four times more likely to develop psychosis when they use marijuana, and at the same time direct funding toward mental illness treatment and opioid treatment,” said U.S. Rep. Timothy Reeder, an emergency physician, according to the paper. “So we are funding programs that are setting us up to get worse.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there is also evidence that cannabis use is associated with earlier onset of psychosis in people with genetic risk factors and worse symptoms in people with psychotic disorders, but more research is needed to determine “whether, to what extent, and in whom cannabis causes adverse mental health outcomes.” A 2025 study by Columbia University researchers found no changes in opioid outcomes among the general population of states that have passed medical and recreational marijuana laws.
It will not be an easy task, but the council said legislative action is necessary to protect North Carolinians.
“The current situation is unacceptable,” the report said.
