The North Carolina Senate passed the medical marijuana legalization act

On Thursday, the American North Carolina Senate passed a restrictive measure by a 35-10 margin, the limited-license medical marijuana legalization bill, the North Carolina Care Act -SenatenBillbill 711) , is a step closer to becoming the 40th state in UnitediStatesates to legalize medical marijuana.

However, activists and a Senator expressed their concerns, says the state's homegrown industrial marijuana growers, processors, and retailers may be excluded from the medical marijuana industry and financially threatened.

The second reading of the medical marijuana legalization bill passed, the bill to the state House of Representatives before a vote on another date to vote. If the house also approves the bill, it will be submitted to the Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, for signature.

Under Senate Bill 711, the medical marijuana production committee will issue 10 vertically integrated licenses for medical marijuana“Suppliers.”. Each licence holder can open up to four cannabis shops, at least one of which is located in a county designated as economically vulnerable.

Democratic Senator Julie Mayfield expressed concern about the vertical structure, saying only large, interstate companies could afford to participate. She said the state's 1,500 industrial marijuana growers were legalized growers, but they were small businesses and farmers that could not be vertically integrated, so none of the entities could obtain the licenses required by the bill.

To that end, Mayfield submitted an amendment requiring the committee to issue an additional 500 growers' licences, 80 processors' licences and 100 retailers' licences, but members of parliament shelved the amendment.

Senate bill 711 requires 10 suppliers or vertically integrated operators to pay a monthly fee equivalent to 10 per cent of their total revenues, which will be used to fund cannabis research. In addition, patients with one of more than 10“Debilitating diseases”-- including cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSD) -- can buy a 30-day dose of medical marijuana at a time, as prescribed by a doctor.