NC Cannabis Organizations

Last verified: April 2026

NC NORML

NC NORML is the statewide chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The organization maintains a Charlotte mailing address and operates regional chapters in the Triangle, Triad, Charlotte, Asheville, and Concord. Jessica Painter was identified as Executive Director in 2023 reporting; the chapter founding dates were not surfaced in public sources we located, and current chapter leadership should be confirmed directly through NC NORML before reliance.

NC NORML is one of the most consistent state-level voices for cannabis reform — regularly providing legislative testimony, organizing constituent contact campaigns during NC General Assembly sessions, and documenting cannabis arrests and convictions. NORML’s national policy classifications place NC’s 1978 partial-decriminalization framework as still criminal because paraphernalia is arrestable and possession over 0.5 oz carries jail exposure.

NC Cannabis Patient Network (NCCPN)

The NC Cannabis Patient Network — founded by Jean Marlowe in Asheville — is the leading patient-advocacy organization in NC. NCCPN has been the most consistent patient-voice organization in NC over the past decade, collaborating with Rep. Kelly Alexander on the original NC Medical Cannabis Act (HB 577) and remaining engaged through every iteration of the Compassionate Care Act since.

NCCPN’s patient-centered framing — chronic pain, cancer, PTSD, and pediatric conditions — has shaped how the bill has been presented in committee testimony. Sen. Bill Rabon’s May 2023 House Health Committee testimony, in which he disclosed his own cancer-treatment cannabis use, drew on the same framing. For the legislative arc, see the Compassionate Care Act.

Southeast Hemp Association (NCIHA)

The Southeast Hemp Association, rebranded as the NCIHA, is one of NC’s primary hemp trade associations. Executive Director Blake Butler — based in Asheville — is also a co-founder of the HempX industry event series. The association represents NC growers, processors, and retailers, and has advocated for state-level licensing, third-party lab testing, and 21+ minimum age requirements as alternatives to outright bans on intoxicating hemp.

The 2025 NC bills attempting to regulate hemp — HB 328, SB 265, SB 328, SB 535, HB 607, and HB 680 — were shaped in part by trade-association engagement. None had been enacted as of April 2026. The November 12, 2026 effective date of federal P.L. 119-37 makes hemp-industry advocacy a high-stakes effort. See NC hemp regulation bills for the bill-by-bill detail.

NC Healthy Alternatives Association

The NC Healthy Alternatives Association is another NC hemp trade-association voice, sometimes named alongside the Southeast Hemp Association in policy coverage. The association advocates on behalf of the hemp retail and product-manufacturing footprint that has grown around the federal 2018 Farm Bill definition. Like SEHA / NCIHA, the association has engaged on the 2025 NC regulatory bills and on the federal hemp redefinition.

NC Advisory Council on Cannabis

Governor Josh Stein, sworn in January 1, 2025 (former NC AG and TREC co-chair), issued Executive Order No. 16 on June 3, 2025, creating the NC Advisory Council on Cannabis. The council is authorized at up to 30 members and is co-chaired by:

• Dr. Lawrence H. Greenblatt, NC State Health Director
• DA Matt Scott, Robeson County District Attorney

Council members include Sens. Bill Rabon (R) and Kandie Smith (D), Reps. John Bell (R) and Zack Hawkins (D), and Forrest Parker, General Manager of Qualla Enterprises (the EBCI tribal cannabis subsidiary). The council’s April 2, 2026 interim report found that NC operates the second-largest unregulated cannabis market in the U.S. (~$3.2 billion in 2023) and recommended full adult-use legalization with regulated retail to adults 21+. Gov. Stein endorsed the recommendation. The final report is due December 2026.

ACLU of North Carolina

The ACLU of North Carolina is the state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and engages on cannabis policy primarily through the lens of racial-equity, civil-rights, and prosecutorial-discretion frameworks. The 2020 NC Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC) report — co-chaired by then-AG Stein and Justice Anita Earls — found that 61% of NC cannabis convictions in 2019 were nonwhite and recommended decriminalization, expungement, and felony-threshold reform. The ACLU of NC has remained engaged on those recommendations through the General Assembly cycle. For more on the racial-equity dimension, see NC cannabis & racial equity.

Organizations Named in Reporting That Could Not Be Confirmed

“NC Families for Medical Cannabis” and “Carolinas Cannabis Association” have been referenced in some NC cannabis reporting, but neither could be confirmed as currently active distinct organizations from the public sources we reviewed. These names may reflect older organizational identities, informal coalitions, or chapters of larger national organizations. Verify directly before relying on either as a current advocacy contact.

Where Each Organization Fits

In 2019 alone, North Carolina recorded 31,287 misdemeanor possession charges and 8,520 convictions, with 61% of those convicted nonwhite.

NC Department of Justice — TREC Working Group Memo, November 4, 2020

How to Get Involved

Each organization above accepts member donations, volunteer engagement, or some form of policy participation. Those interested in cannabis reform in NC should consider:

• Patient advocacy — NCCPN engages on medical cannabis legislation specifically.
• Reform advocacy — NC NORML coordinates legislative-contact campaigns and chapter activities.
• Hemp industry — SEHA/NCIHA and NC Healthy Alternatives Association represent the hemp trade ahead of the November 12, 2026 federal hemp cliff.
• Civil rights — ACLU of NC engages on enforcement, prosecutorial discretion, and racial equity.
• Public input on Stein’s council — the NC Advisory Council on Cannabis has held public listening sessions during 2025–2026; check the Governor’s office for the December 2026 final-report process.

NC Resources