North Carolina Cannabis Council Considers Broad Ban on Public THC Consumption

North Carolina Cannabis Council Considers Broad Ban on Public THC Consumption AND MOSTLY GETS IT WRONG

North Carolina’s Advisory Council on Cannabis is considering options and approaches to where adults could consume THC products if the state adopts a comprehensive cannabis regulatory system. 

At its September 29 meeting, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services staff presented five draft recommendations on public consumption. The proposed package would prohibit consumption of THC products in public places, restrict THC consumption and open containers in vehicles, decline to authorize general cannabis consumption lounges, preserve the authority of landlords and condominium associations to impose stricter rules, and generally enforce public-consumption violations through civil fines rather than criminal charges. Click here to read the Council’s presentation. 

The proposed public-use rule is extremely broad. It would apply to all forms of THC, not merely smoking or vaping, and would cover restaurants, bars, streets, sidewalks, parks, beaches, public transportation, event venues, public buildings, and common areas of hotels and multi-unit housing. The Council is separately considering a possible exception that would allow licensed restaurants and bars to serve THC beverages for on-premises consumption.

These Proposals Are Not Law

To be clear, none of this is currently North Carolina law. The September 29 presentation contains draft recommendations and discussion items. The Council has no rulemaking authority. It was created by Governor Josh Stein to study cannabis policy and make recommendations. Its final recommendations are due to the Governor by December 31, 2026. Any new statutory restrictions would require further governmental action, including legislation where changes to North Carolina law are necessary. So there is time to push back to some of the more extreme recommendations. 

As for consumption lounges, the Council recommends that North Carolina not create a general consumption-lounge license in its “initial” framework, citing concerns about intoxication, ventilation, youth access, neighboring properties, enforcement, and the possibility that lounges might expand into food, beverage, entertainment, and event businesses. 

Interestingly, much of the public-health presentation immediately preceding this discussion focused on secondhand smoke. The presenters recommended that, if cannabis lounges are permitted, indoor smoking and vaping could be prohibited while other forms of consumption or appropriately designed outdoor spaces are addressed separately. Yet the DHHS draft that followed goes further, proposing a prohibition on public consumption regardless of whether the THC is smoked, vaped, eaten, or potentially drunk. 

The Alcohol Comparison

North Carolina currently regulates another intoxicating substance with a completely different approach. Alcohol may be sold and consumed in licensed restaurants, bars, hotels, private clubs, sporting events, and other establishments. North Carolina law even permits cities and counties to create “social districts” where customers may leave licensed businesses carrying open alcoholic beverages and consume them within designated public areas.

Of course, alcohol is hardly benign from a public-health standpoint. I don’t need to cite all of the statistics about the number of deaths, negative health implications, and detrimental social impacts that alcohol consumption creates. You can easily do an internet search of you want the specifics. Cannabis consumption is no totally immune from health and safety issues, including impairment and the effects of smoke exposure, but the regulatory contrast and Council recommendations between the two substances is substantial. The difference is especially stark considering the radically different health consequences between alcohol and THC use. The Council’s recommendations seem comically overwrought when compared with current laws and regulations surrounding alcohol consumption. 

As some readers may know, I have firsthand experience with cannabis hospitality. I was previously a partner in a cannabis consumption lounge in Asheville, North Carolina. We sold hemp-derived THC products, including smokable flower, and operated for approximately a year and a half. During that time, we had zero problems involving belligerent customers or impairment-related incidents. The atmosphere was mellow and relaxed. The ventilation system wasn’t perfect, but the space rarely got smoky. People came to socialize, but they also came to work, read, drink coffee, and spend time with friends. It operated as a true “third space” where people could comfortably hang out and connect with others. 

That experience is anecdotal, of course, and it does not address every regulatory question facing the state. But it is an example of an adult THC consumption space operating without the kinds of problems that policymakers anticipate. 

The policy choice now before the Council is larger than whether North Carolina should prohibit people from smoking cannabis indiscriminately in public. The proposal asks whether the state should adopt a bright-line prohibition on nearly all public THC consumption, with only narrow exceptions that benefit a small minority of corporate interests, or create a regulated hospitality framework that permits controlled adult consumption in designated places and genuine third spaces for cannabis consumers.

For now, no decision has been made. The September 29 proposals remain a draft, the Council will continue working on them this fall, and its final recommendations are not due until December 31. If you have thoughts about the Council’s recommendations then you should share them with the Council, North Carolina lawmakers, and the Governor.

Here are a couple of gratuitous pictures of our former cannabis lounge in Asheville:

October 2, 2026