“Currently, there’s no age restriction on purchasing these intoxicating cannabinoids, and children do use these and buy these every day.”
By Lynn Bonner, NC Newsline
North Carolina lawmakers have proposed at least nine bills this year that seek more regulation on the sale and purchase of gummies, drinks and vaping products containing compounds from hemp.
Most of the bills seek to make it illegal for youth to buy snacks, drinks and vape products containing hemp-derived cannabinoids or to keep them off school property. Legislators and sheriffs talked about one of the bills, House Bill 680, The Protect Children from Cannabis Act, at a Wednesday news conference.
The bill would make it illegal for shops to sell consumables containing hemp compounds without a permit, and would make it illegal for people under 21 to buy them. The Alcohol Beverage Control Commission and Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) would have investigative and enforcement powers.
“Currently, there’s no age restriction on purchasing these intoxicating cannabinoids, and children do use these and buy these every day,” said Rep. Timothy Reeder (R-Pitt), one of the bill’s primary sponsors.
Onslow County Sheriff Chris Thomas said vape shops have opened near schools in his county to take advantage of the young customer base.
It appears sellers are focusing on young customers, he said, “because the young clientele is a customer for a long time.”
An effort to regulate snacks containing hemp cannabinoids and banning the products from schools faltered last year when the state Senate attached medical marijuana legalization to a House bill. The House and Senate have been at an impasse over medical marijuana for several years.
Reeder said he anticipates parties interested in regulating edibles will work together to pass a bill this session. “I hope we can do something versus nothing,” he said.
The Child Fatality Task Force noted in its annual report that the rate of emergency department visits in North Carolina related to cannabis increased 600 percent for children and teens younger than 17 and by more than 1000 percent among older teens since 2019. A 2018 federal law legalized hemp.
The task force recommended banning sales of cannabis or hemp products to people younger than 21, child-resistant packaging and package warnings.
This story was first published by NC Newsline.
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