RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Senate agreed Tuesday to legalize marijuana for medical use, casting an initial vote to make the drug available for patients under tight restrictions.
Senate Bill 3, the “Compassionate Care Act,” would allow medical marijuana use statewide for people who have cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments. Those do not include chronic pain, and the drug would not be allowed for recreational use.
The bill passed a preliminary vote 36-10, with broad bipartisan support, and would need to receive one more vote before it can be sent to the House, where it died last year after not being allowed a vote, and could face resistance again.
