North Carolina’s Legal “High” May Be Outlawed

The video-ad on social media features a smiling woman who says “I could hit this all day long.”

She’s talking about a little piece of candy – a gummy — loaded with THC. And she promises that it delivers a relaxing high, “whether you want to just sooth your body or have a good time”

Vape shops all over North Carolina are selling “a good time.”   Products loaded with marijuana’s main ingredient THC — the chemical that makes a person high when they smoke a joint.

And while marijuana is against the law, you can get a perfectly legal buzz in North Carolina buying candy or drinks infused with THC.  You can also buy buds from the hemp plant that look and smell — and smoke — just like weed. 

On Tuesday hundreds of people showed up at the legislature in Raleigh to protest a bill that would be a giant buzz-kill.  It would outlaw nearly all of the legal THC products now being sold.

“There’s about 16-thousand jobs at stake here,” said Adrian Larrea.  He owns a company that makes THC-infused drinks in a can.  He said the THC high that is pedaled in smoke shops brings in about $4 billion a year to the state’s economy.  He said all of that will go away if the bill passes.  

But Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes said at a press conference, “if a business depends primarily on selling these dangerous products to our children,” then it’s fine if they shut down.  Craven brought packs of THC gummies packaged to look like candy and Randolph County district attorney Andy Gregson said, “They’re targeting children.”

Supporters of the THC legal high, say however, they support age limits. They just don’t want the entire industry outlawed.

The bill has already passed the Senate.  But in the House, speaker Destin Hall has yet to put the measure up for a vote because there’s apparently a split among House Republicans over the ban.

At this point, the bill has not been scheduled for a vote.  So for now, North Carolina’s legal drug trafficking will continue.

North Carolina’s Legal “High” May Be Outlawed was originally published on wbt.com