US State Senate Passes Bill Cracking Down On Hemp-Derived THC And Kratom Products

The North Carolina Senate voted 43-6 on its final day before a month-long recess to advance House Bill 328, which would ban most intoxicating hemp products currently sold statewide. The measure defines "intoxicating hemp products" as anything containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis. Hemp business owners say that threshold would eliminate nearly every product now on shelves. The bill also bars sale of hemp consumables to anyone under 21, bans xylazine and synthetic kratom, and restricts natural kratom sales to buyers 21 and older. The vote follows months of disagreement between the House and Senate over regulating substances now common at gas stations and vape shops across the state. The House had already adjourned when senators acted, but Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said waiting until lawmakers reconvene July 27 wasn't acceptable: "The personal loss that has occurred across the state of North Carolina as a result of these products is such that we just could not and should not delay any further. We have gotten to such a point where doing nothing was not an option." Sen. Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth) backed the bill, citing products imported from countries where they're not even legal for sale. North Carolina's child fatality task force reported in 2025 that emergency room visits by minors tied to cannabis rose 600 percent since 2019; Rep. Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin) previously cited a hospitalized 14-year-old during the House's version of the debate last month. Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch (D-Wake) said she mainly supported curbing "gas station drugs," including kratom, but worried the hemp provisions could sweep up non-intoxicating products with medical uses and hurt farmers financially. The bill follows a federal intoxicating-hemp ban included in last year's Farm Bill, set to take effect in November but facing industry pressure to be reversed; the Trump administration urged Congress last month to keep such products legal. Berger said a state-level ban ensures protection regardless of federal action, while leaving room for future changes: "If there are folks that want to legalize marijuana, then they can introduce that bill, we will talk about that." Sen. Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick), who previously championed a near-successful medical marijuana bill, said: "I've had the epiphany that the big players and the people who want to make the money can't make the money they want to make, can't prey upon the people whom they want to prey upon, in a regulated product way. So if that's the case, we have to do away with all of it. There's no other option." The House, which passed a narrower version setting only an age limit, will consider the Senate's stricter bill when it returns July 27.