A bill passed by the North Carolina Senate to legalize medical marijuana is likely doomed after the state House backed a competing bill that would permit cannabis products to be sold in the state only if they are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
That’s tantamount to forcing the state to wait until federal legalization of marijuana before North Carolina can launch an industry, given that only one cannabis product has been approved by the FDA – GW Pharmaceutical’s Epidiolex.
According to The Carolina Journal, the state House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 448 and the wide support for that measure in the chamber means Senate Bill 711 “could be dead on arrival in the House.”
SB 448 is headed to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature.
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SB 711, which would create a fairly standard MMJ industry in North Carolina, was given final approval by the Senate on Monday, the Carolina Journal reported.
That measure is pending in the House.