The new North Carolina medical marijuana bill, SB3, contradicts itself. Litigation to sort out the problem could add years to the already long process of licensing sellers.
The bill puts two “industry representatives” named by the Governor on the “Production Commission” (proposed section 90-113.118(a)(1)b.), but then seems to make it impossible for anyone to be an industry representative on the Commission. The bill says, “Conflicts of Interest — No member of the Commission shall own, operate, have a direct or indirect financial interest in, or be employed by a licensed medical cannabis supplier, or a licensed medical cannabis testing laboratory, or a subcontractor thereof” (Proposed section 90-113.118(l)). How can someone be an “industry representative” and not “own, operate, have a direct or indirect financial interest in, or be employed by a licensed medical cannabis supplier, or a licensed medical cannabis testing laboratory, or a subcontractor thereof”?
Am I missing something? This kind of little technical glitch, if indeed it is one, could cause the system to freeze up before it gets started.
The quotes are from pages 9 and 10 of the latest version, https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/Senate/PDF/S3v1.pdf. The “representative” language first showed up in version 2 of last session’s bill, https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S711v6.pdf; the “conflicts” language first showed up in version 5 — but I just noticed this issue.
The “indirect financial interest” language seems broad enough to catch any “industry representative.”
So maybe this issue will get cleaned up as the bill progresses.
The Center for New Revenue 