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It's official! At the eleventh hour, hemp get's the final approval to be a permanent crop in the North Carolina agricultural landscape. Local stores and farmers were left scrambling at the end of June when it became apparent that the definition of legal hemp was set to expire on June 30th. After denying the addition of language to keep hemp safe in the weeks leading up to the critical moment, just two days before it was to expire, the North Carolina Congress passed new language in HB455 to give hemp permanent legal status.

Hemp, which is cannabis that has .3% THC or less, has become major business in North Carolina with an estimated 1,500 farms growing hemp and employing thousands more workers. As well as countless wellness clinics and mom and pop shops making and selling hemp based products. Hemp has become such a staple commodity that when the news of the expiration of the NC Hemp Pilot Program first appeared, a huge ground swelling of support for the permanent legalization of hemp in North Carolina was felt far and wide, with supporters coming from as far as California.

Governor Cooper was quoted as saying "Agriculture is North Carolina’s largest industry and giving North Carolina farmers certainty that they can continue to participate in this growing market is the right thing to do for rural communities and our economy."

Hooray for Hemp!

https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2022/0...

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article263021958.html