The North Carolina House could vote Tuesday on a Senate-approved proposal that would remove most intoxicating hemp products from the state’s legal market, impose new restrictions on sales to people younger than 21, and establish penalties for underage possession.

Following Tuesday’s North Carolina Council of State meeting Gov. Josh Stein took issue with the bill saying it doesn’t have enough regulations in it to protect the public from intoxicating THC products.

House Bill 328, Regulate Hemp-Derived Consumables, would limit finished hemp products to 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. The restriction would effectively eliminate most THC beverages, gummies, vapes, delta-8 products, and THCA flower currently sold in North Carolina.

The North Carolina Senate approved the conference report 37-6 on July 2, but the House left Raleigh without acting on it. The measure was formally submitted to the House and referred to the Rules Committee on July 30, making it eligible for consideration as representatives return for what could be their final voting days before the November election.

Stein criticized the proposal, arguing that it is being promoted as a public-safety measure but would not create sufficient protections for minors or establish enough regulations for an adult THC market.

He also told reporters that it legalizes kratom or what he called “gas station heroin” which hasn’t been approved by the FDA. The legislation would add kratom as a Schedule VI controlled substance. In North Carolina, schedule VI is the state’s lowest controlled-substance classification, meaning kratom would be regulated as a controlled substance rather than broadly legalized.

The bill, which may be voted on by the House on Tuesday, would impose a limit of 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container on finished hemp products. The restriction would remove most THC beverages, gummies, vapes, delta-8 products, and THCA flower from North Carolina’s legal market.

The agreement would also prohibit the sale or delivery of hemp-derived consumables to anyone younger than 21, prohibit underage possession, and create penalties for illegal sales and possession.

The Senate adopted the conference report 37-6 on July 2, but the House did not take it up before lawmakers left Raleigh. The report was formally submitted to the House and referred to the Rules Committee on July 30, leaving it available for consideration this week.

House Republicans previously raised concerns about the scope of the agreement. House leaders have shown greater interest in age restrictions and youth access than in the conference report’s broader ban on products.

The governor, building upon his criticism in a post on X on Monday, told reporters after Tuesday’s Council of State meeting that the he considers the bill’s age-verification or enforcement provisions inadequate.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Legislative Building before moving inside, many of whom are business owners of shops that sell products that contain THC. Stein, a Democrat, said public health and safety in this situation are more important.

“What’s going on out there today in the market is wrong,” he said. “There are no protections for kids. There are no protections for adults who choose to use these products. Either it has too much THC then it says it has or has less THC than it has, and it has all kinds of bacteria in it. This stuff that is bad for people. What we need to do is have a well-regulated THC market for adults to do whatever they want to do, where they know what they’re buying, they know the quantity and they know what the ingredients are and we need to completely protect kids. That is not happening with the law today and unfortunately, that bill that the legislature is thinking about doesn’t get us there either.”

Stein said he has made suggestions to the legislature on what he would want in the bill to sign it. The proposal comes ahead of a federal law taking effect Nov. 12 that will impose a similar 0.4-milligram-per-container limit and remove most intoxicating hemp products from the federal definition of legal hemp.

“We have this in the law for alcohol and cigarettes,” Stein said. “Why do we make it easy for them to sell hemp and kratom to kids? There’s no reason. If they (legislature) have good intention, they would have real age gating and they don’t have real age gating in this bill.”

Because conference reports cannot be amended on the floor, the House would have to accept or reject the agreement. Approval would send the bill to Stein, where rejection would likely require lawmakers to renegotiate the legislation during a later session.

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