‘Our frustration continues’: CBD could be illegal next week in North Carolina as legislative hemp action stalls

ASHEVILLE — With a key deadline less than a week away, sellers of hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol, or CBD, are growing increasingly restless that the North Carolina General Assembly hasn’t acted to remove the plant from the state’s controlled substance list.

“Our frustration continues as the General Assembly cannot get this simple legislative fix done without using the hemp industry as a political football,” said Blake Butler, an Asheville resident and executive director of the Southeast Hemp Association, which represents industry interests in seven states.

Hemp products have been legally available in North Carolina since 2015, but a sunset provision in the state’s hemp law means this protection is set to expire June 30. With a popular and expanding industry at stake, legislators from both political parties seek to align North Carolina with federal law that allows hemp to be grown and sold.