North Carolina does not have to choose between protecting children and protecting lawful businesses.
We can do both.
We can require hemp-derived products capable of causing intoxication to be sold only to adults 21 and older. We can require independent testing, accurate labels, child-resistant packaging, responsible manufacturing, licensing and enforcement. We can impose meaningful penalties on businesses that sell to minors, misrepresent their products or put consumers at risk.
I support those protections.
After nine years as a North Carolina hemp farmer, manufacturer, retailer, employer and educator, I know our industry needs clear and enforceable rules.
But that is not the same as supporting the current HB 328 conference report.
We support regulation. We oppose destruction disguised as regulation.
HB 328 contains a responsible idea�and a destructive one
The conference proposal contains a legitimate policy goal: preventing people under 21 from purchasing or possessing hemp-derived consumable products.
The proposal would prohibit sales to anyone under 21, require age verification under specified circumstances and establish escalating penalties for violations. Responsible hemp businesses should be prepared to support strong adult-access requirements and serious enforcement against sellers who violate them.
But the proposal does not stop there.
It would also define a �prohibited finished hemp-derived consumable product� as a product containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC in the entire container. It would separately prohibit products containing synthetic or chemically converted cannabinoids and place prohibited products within Schedule VI of North Carolina�s Controlled Substances Act.
The bill expressly states that North Carolina�s restriction should remain in effect even if the federal government later weakens or repeals the federal standard.
That is not a temporary effort to align state and federal law.
It is a decision to establish an independent and lasting North Carolina prohibition.
What does 0.4 milligrams per container mean?
The limit is not 0.4 milligrams per serving.
It is 0.4 milligrams in the entire container�the innermost package offered for retail sale.
A package containing multiple gummies would be judged by the total THC in the whole package. The same principle would apply to a bottle of hemp-derived beverage, a tincture or another finished ingestible product.
In practical terms, this threshold would remove most currently available hemp-derived THC gummies, chocolates, beverages and tinctures from North Carolina�s lawful market. It would also affect THCA flower and other products included under the bill�s total-THC calculation.
That is why calling this provision a �limit� understates its effect.
It functions as near-prohibition.
Consumers will not stop wanting these products simply because compliant North Carolina businesses can no longer sell them. Demand may move to unregulated sellers, illicit markets, out-of-state purchases or online sources that are harder for North Carolina to inspect, tax and hold accountable.
That is not stronger consumer protection.
It is the surrender from a regulated opportunity.
North Carolina�s hemp economy is made of people
This debate is sometimes presented as though it concerns only products on store shelves.
It does not.
A January 2026 economic analysis by Whitney Economics estimates that North Carolina�s hemp-derived cannabinoid industry generates approximately $3.2 billion in business revenue. It supports more than 16,000 workers and approximately $702.5 million in wages. Hemp retail sales alone are estimated to produce approximately $87.8 million in state sales-tax revenue and more than $4.4 billion in broader economic activity.
Behind those figures are farmers, manufacturing employees, delivery drivers, laboratory technicians, retail workers, accountants, landlords, packaging suppliers and small-business owners.
They are parents paying mortgages.
They are people buying groceries.
They are workers contributing payroll taxes.
They are farmers trying to keep land productive.
They are businesses occupying commercial buildings and supporting neighboring businesses.
Whitney Economics estimates that highly restrictive policies could lead to more than 12,000 lost jobs, approximately $513.7 million in lost wages and more than $3.7 billion in reduced statewide economic activity. The report projects that more than 2,000 retail, wholesale and manufacturing businesses could fail or relocate.
Economic projections should always be read as estimates. But even a fraction of that damage should demand serious consideration before lawmakers dismantle a legal industry without establishing a workable transition.
Consumer protection requires product-level regulation
North Carolina should not defend every product or every operator.
Businesses that sell to children should face serious consequences.
Products should be tested for potency, pesticides, heavy metals, residual solvents and microbial contaminants. Labels should disclose the amount of each active cannabinoid per serving and per package. Certificates of analysis should be accessible through QR codes. Packaging should be child-resistant, tamper-evident and prohibited from imitating children�s candy.
Manufacturers should meet GMP or equivalent standards. Retailers, manufacturers and distributors should be licensed. Products should be registered. The state should have traceability, recall and adverse-event procedures. Unlicensed sellers and repeat offenders should face escalating penalties.
Reasonable serving and package limits may also be appropriate, but they should be developed by product category and informed by science, consumer behavior and real-world regulatory experience.
That is regulation.
An arbitrary 0.4-milligram ceiling that removes most of a market is not a substitute for those protections.
We already know how to build systems
North Carolina�s hemp industry began through legislation, licensing, research, testing and cooperation among farmers, regulators, universities, attorneys and businesses.
The original system was not perfect. It focused heavily on cultivation and did not create a complete consumer-product framework after hemp left the farm.
That unfinished work is precisely what lawmakers should address now.
Bring farmers, manufacturers, independent laboratories, retailers, health professionals, attorneys, public-safety representatives and consumers to the table. Establish adult-only access. Build a licensing and product-registration system. Fund enforcement. Give compliant businesses a reasonable transition period.
Protect children.
Protect consumers.
Punish bad actors.
But do not erase an entire lawful market and call it regulation.
HB 328 has not yet become law
As of July 29, 2026, the Senate has adopted the conference report, but the official legislative record does not show that the House has adopted it. The bill is stalled, not defeated, and it can still be brought forward for a House vote.
That means North Carolinians still have time to act.
Contact your North Carolina House representative today. Ask them to vote no on the current HB 328 conference report. Ask House leadership to convene responsible industry and public-interest stakeholders and advance a comprehensive regulatory alternative.
Tell them:
We support 21-and-older access.
We support testing, licensing, packaging, labeling and enforcement.
We support protecting children and consumers.
We oppose the 0.4-milligram-per-container threshold that would destroy responsible businesses instead of regulating them.
North Carolina deserves more than a choice between inadequate oversight and outright prohibition.
We have a solution.
Now we need lawmakers willing to build it.
Social media excerpts
1. Core message
We support 21+ access.
We support testing.
We support licensing.
We support safe packaging and truthful labels.
We support enforcement against bad actors.
We do not support a 0.4-milligram-per-container threshold that destroys a lawful industry and calls it regulation.
Tell the North Carolina House to reject the current HB 328 conference report.
2. Economic impact
North Carolina hemp supports an estimated:
16,000+ jobs
$702.5 million in wages
$3.2 billion in business revenue
HB 328�s 0.4-milligram limit could put farmers, manufacturers, retailers and workers at risk.
This is not only about products. It is about North Carolina people and livelihoods.
Regulate responsibly. Do not eliminate the market.
3. Urgent action
HB 328 is stalled�but it is not defeated.
The Senate adopted the conference report. The House has not yet adopted it, and lawmakers can still bring it forward for a vote.
Contact your North Carolina House representative today:
https://www.ncleg.gov/findyourlegislators
Vote no on the current HB 328 conference report. Protect consumers through regulation�not prohibition by milligram.
