Latest news with #HouseBill1011
Forbes
18-04-2025
- Health
- Forbes
North Carolina Lawmakers File Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill
A group of North Carolina lawmakers this week introduced legislation to legalize medical cannabis in the state, online news source Marijuana Moment reported on Friday. The measure, House Bill 1011, was filed on Tuesday with primary sponsorship from Democratic Reps. Aisha Dew, Pricey Harrison and Zack Hawkins. The measure, titled the North Carolina Compassionate Care Act, would legalize the use of cannabis for patients with certain qualifying debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's disease and post-traumatic stress disorder. The legislation would also apply to patients in end-of-life care and those with other specified debilitating medical conditions. Patients would need a doctor's recommendation to use medical cannabis under the legislation. Doctors would be permitted to recommend smoking or vaping cannabis if they note the intended method of consumption on the recommendation. The bill also permits registered caregivers aged 21 and up to obtain medical cannabis for patients. North Carolina's medical cannabis program would be overseen by the state Department of Health and Human Services, which would be responsible for developing rules for the testing of medical cannabis products by independent laboratories. Medical cannabis products would be regulated by a newly created Medical Cannabis Production Commission. The agency would be responsible for licensing cannabis businesses and ensuring an adequate supply of medical cannabis is produced for patients. The bill authorizes up to 10 medical cannabis suppliers to cultivate and distribute licensed medical marijuana products. Each supplier would be permitted to operate as many as eight dispensaries, which would be known as 'medical cannabis centers.' The measure also establishes the North Carolina Cannabis Research Program to 'undertake objective, scientific research regarding the administration of cannabis or cannabis-infused products as part of medical treatment.' The legislation is similar to a 2023 bill of the same name from Republican Sen. Bill Rabon. That measure gained the approval of the North Carolina Senate but never came up for a vote in the state House of Representatives. Last year, the Senate approved a separate measure to legalize medical cannabis, but it also failed to garner a vote in the House. The North Carolina Capitol Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Earlier this year, the findings of a survey from Meredith Poll found strong support among registered voters for legalizing medical marijuana in North Carolina. According to the poll, 71% of North Carolinians 'strongly' or 'somewhat' support legalizing medical cannabis, while only 23% 'strongly' or 'somewhat' said they oppose the policy reform. 'We hear about it all the time. There's broad support across political parties. People want it taxed. They want the money, and they want it regulated,' Democratic Sen. Graig Meyer told WDTV television news at the time. 'They want to know we're doing it in a safe way, especially that protects kids.' Meyer voted in favor of the 2023 version of the North Carolina Compassionate Care Act in the Senate, where it received bipartisan support. Despite the issue's popularity, however, medical cannabis legalization bills have failed to gain the support of key Republican leaders in the House of Representatives. 'Everyone knows if you put a marijuana bill on the floor of either chamber, you've got enough votes to pass it,' Meyer said. 'The question is, can you get over the objections of a few powerful people that are standing in the way and that dynamic still exists in the House.' House Bill 1011 has been referred to the Committee on Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House for consideration. If the bill is passed into law, North Carolina will join the 39 other states that legalized medical cannabis. At least three other cannabis policy reform bills are also pending in the North Carolina legislature, including House Bill 984, which would legalize medical cannabis only for patients in a registered research program. Senate Bill 350 would legalize both recreational and medical marijuana, while House Bill 413 would legalize recreational cannabis.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
With stenographers in short supply, SD lawmakers advance bill letting judges opt for recordings
South Dakota State Court Administrator Greg Sattizahn speaks to the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 16, 2024. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) A shortage of stenographers in South Dakota helped spur unanimous support in a legislative committee for a bill that would allow judges to decide if a stenographer is necessary in lower-level court hearings. Stenographers, also called court reporters, are people who transcribe everything said in a court proceeding, using stenographic machines with specialized keyboards. Current law allows the parties involved in misdemeanor criminal or civil cases to demand a stenographer to cover hearings in person. Chief justice says SD would benefit from expanding its new criminal public defense office That's not usually necessary, though, State Court Administrator Greg Sattizahn told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday at the Capitol in Pierre. An audio recording can be used after the hearing to create an official written transcript if necessary, Sattizahn said, and that's become the most common method for creating official records in South Dakota. The technology has been a boon for the state in the face of a steady loss of trained court reporters in recent years, Sattizahn said. The Unified Judicial System has eight open stenography positions at the moment. 'As those positions come open, we've in many cases converted them to court recorders,' Sattizahn said, referring to the audio recording systems used to create transcribable audio records of hearings. There are 41 court reporters on staff for the state courts at the moment. There are 11 court recorder systems available. The slim stenography labor pool can create a scheduling burden for felony cases, Sattizahn said — one that can be exacerbated when parties to lower-level cases opt to exercise their right to demand a stenographer. House Bill 1011 would put the decision on whether a human court reporter is needed in the hands of a case's presiding judge. No one testified against the bill, which was presented on behalf of the state court systems at the request of South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Steven Jensen. The committee backed the bill 7-0, sending it to the Senate, where final passage would send the bill to the governor's desk. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
