08/04/2026
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Stein Breaks With Law Enforcement, Urges House to Reject H**p Bill
Tuesday, August 4, 2026 — 8:00 AM
RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Josh Stein publicly urged the North Carolina House to reject House Bill 328 in a post Monday night, saying the chamber would take up the h**p crackdown Tuesday. The House calendar published for Tuesday does not list the bill.
The measure sits in the House Rules Committee, which decides what reaches the floor. The conference report was reported in the House on July 30 and sent there. Calendars can be amended during session, so it could still surface. The House convenes at 4 p.m.
THE SHORT VERSION
Stein came out against HB 328, but not from the industry’s side. He argues it fails to protect children and wants a regulated adult THC market instead.
The bill would cap h**p products at 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. Industry groups say that removes roughly 95% of what stores sell today.
Those who oppose the bill say it is prohibition under another name, closing small businesses and sweeping in non-intoxicating CBD that nobody claims gets anyone high.
Those who support it say North Carolina has an unregulated intoxicating market with no age limits, and this is the only vehicle on the table to change that.
It is not law. The Senate adopted it 37-6 on July 2. The House has never voted on it.
WHAT STEIN SAID
Stein criticized the bill on two fronts. He said it legalizes kratom, which he called “an opioid-like substance sometimes called gas station heroin,” and that it lacks meaningful age restrictions. He said lawmakers should instead build a safe, well-regulated adult THC market that protects children.
The bill text reads differently on the second point. The conference report bans synthetic kratom outright, restricts natural kratom sales and possession to 21 and over, and bars sales of any h**p consumable to anyone under 21, with violations charged as Class 2 misdemeanors. It does decline to classify natural kratom as a controlled substance, which an earlier Senate version would have done. The governor’s post did not specify which provisions he was describing.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR SHOPPERS
Nothing today. Nothing changes unless the House adopts the report and the governor signs it.
If enacted, the age-21 restrictions hit first. The 0.4-milligram cap follows Nov. 12, matching a federal standard Congress passed in November 2025. Anything above the cap becomes a Schedule VI controlled substance, the same category as ma*****na.
The cap is measured per container, not per serving. An entire bottle of gummies would have to test under 0.4 milligrams of total THC.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR SHOP OWNERS
For most, it is not a restriction. It is closure.
The U.S. H**p Roundtable estimates the language would prohibit roughly 95% of h**p products legal in North Carolina today, including full-spectrum CBD, because trace THC across a full container exceeds the cap. The North State Journal reported the bill would doom most non-CBD products sold at gas stations, dispensaries, bars and restaurants.
Dr. J. Coleman Pannell, co-owner of The Recd, which operates stores in Hickory, Statesville and Denver, said the state is reaching for the wrong tool. “Regulation is the answer, not prohibition disguised as regulation,” he said.
Pannell argued that unsafe products should be regulated for safety and that retailers who break the rules should be punished individually, rather than eliminating a legal industry when ordinary oversight would meet the same public safety goals while protecting consumers, small businesses and North Carolina jobs.
Rick Brownfield of Rocky River H**p told WUNC the bill would end nearly every h**p operation in the state, including growers whose products are not intoxicating.
State fiscal analysts studying an earlier version estimated as many as 23,000 retail locations statewide sell these products — convenience stores, grocery stores and pharmacies, not just specialty shops. Across Catawba, Burke, Caldwell, Alexander, Iredell, Lincoln and McDowell counties, that is a lot of storefronts.
Farmers face a separate problem. Crops now in the ground were planted under the current standard.
THE CASE FOR IT
Seven law enforcement and prosecution groups — including the Sheriffs’ Association, the SBI, the Highway Patrol and the Conference of District Attorneys — sent the House a joint memo July 27 calling passage a high priority. They argue that without it, anyone of any age can buy intoxicating THC products with no legal consequence.
Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said after the Senate vote that inaction was no longer viable. “We have gotten to such a point where doing nothing was not an option,” he said.
Ten Senate Democrats voted for it alongside 27 Republicans.
THE LOCAL ANGLE
Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, decides whether the bill reaches the floor. He has said the outcome rests with the House Republican caucus.
Sen. Warren Daniel, whose district covers Burke and McDowell counties, voted for the conference report July 2, according to the Senate roll call.
WHERE IT STANDS
Filed March 2025 as a two-page school-grounds bill. Passed the House 112-0. Rewritten twice. The House refused to concur 95-18 in April. A conference committee rewrote it again in June. The Senate adopted that report 37-6 on July 2. The House reported it and sent it to Rules on July 30.
Because it is a conference report, the House cannot amend it. Members get one up-or-down vote.
CVNW will update as soon as a vote is taken.
⬇️ The governor wants a regulated adult THC market instead of this bill. Law enforcement says this is the only option on the table. Which approach should North Carolina take?
