“I wish we had done this back in 2021 when we figured out the whole hemp problem. The genie is pretty far out of the bottle now, so we’re trying to stuff it back in.”

By Clayton Henkel, NC Newsline

In a political climate in which Republicans and Democrats rarely find themselves on the same side, House Bill 328 provided a vehicle for common ground on Tuesday. Lawmakers praised the bill to regulate hemp-derived consumables as something that was long overdue in North Carolina.

The new proposed “committee substitute” rolled out in the Senate Health Care Committee defines hemp-derived cannabinoids to include delta 9 THC, delta 8, cannabidiol (CBD) and a variety of other synthetic products derived from hemp. The bill would limit sales to adults 21 and older.

While hemp may legally have 0.3 percent or less THC, lawmakers said some unregulated products may be delivering a more potent hit than advertised.

THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main ingredient in marijuana that provides users with a high.

Senator Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) praised Sen. Amy Galey (R-Alamance) for shepherding the bill through the Senate.

“I wish we had done this back in 2021 when we figured out the whole hemp problem,” said Mayfield. “The genie is pretty far out of the bottle now, so we’re trying to stuff it back in.”

HB 328 would also ban hemp-derived consumables on educational property, requiring local boards of education to have a written policy barring the products from school grounds along with electronic cigarettes and other vaping products.

Bill Croft, executive director at NC Respiratory Care Board, joined those urging regulation of the products that increasingly appear in vape shops.

“I would highly support this simply because vaping is destroying lungs. We already have a huge problem in North Carolina,” Croft said.

Attorney General Jeff Jackson attended Tuesday’s hearing with his 10-year-old son, Owen.

“While I would trust him with many things, the notion that he can go into one of these shops and be presented with what is branded as candy by the misappropriation of actual brands that he’s familiar with like Oreos, like Sour Patch Kids, to try and sell him an intoxicating substance…the notion that that is somehow lawful in North Carolina is very difficult for parents,” said Jackson.

Jackson said even as the legislation evolves with time, his office supports this initial step forward.

“We have been meeting with Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) over the last several months in anticipation of a bill like this to talk to them about what enforcement would actually look like on the ground. They are very well positioned to move on this,” the attorney general told lawmakers.

Jackson said the Department of Justice was also ready to work with ALE to aggressively enforce this law to protect kids.

Sen. Benton Sawrey, chairman of the Senate Health Care Committee, said it was ‘bizarre’ the state had not placed restrictions on these products in prior sessions.

“I’ve been shocked by the pictures and the packaging that I’ve seen that these products are sold in,” said Sawrey in acknowledging the colorful graphics were intended to catch the eye of young consumers.

“It’s not something we would permit [with] anything else.”

Under the legislation, retailers would be prohibited from selling THC-infused candies and drinks to anyone under 21. Retailers would also be required to have a valid license to sell hemp-derived consumables.

Producers selling their products illegally could face an initial civil penalty up to $500. Repeated violations within a three-year period would result in a $2,000 fine and the revocation of the seller’s license.

A separate section of the bill would add kratom to North Carolina’s list of controlled substances.

Kratom is a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia whose leaves are generally smoked, brewed with tea, or placed into gel capsules. In low doses it can provide a stimulant effect, but it high doses it has a sedative effect. Kratom is currently not a controlled substance and is unregulated and legal under state and federal law.

Sen. Sawrey said he believes there is finally broad consensus to raise the age and place restrictions on the packaging of these consumables that come with a potent punch.

“I hope that we’re able to achieve that in this session and get that across the finish line.”

HB 328 won unanimous support Tuesday in both the Senate Health and Senate Finance Committees. The measure now moves to the Judiciary Committee as senators appears intent on fast-tracking the bill ahead of a floor vote.

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Activists in Alaska are working to put a measure on the 2026 state ballot to legalize certain psychedelics—including psilocybin, mescaline and DMT—and create a state-regulated system for facilitated use.

The group Natural Medicine Alaska this week officially began gathering signatures in the cities of Anchorage and Palmer as part of a first step in the state’s initiative process.

Organizers first have to submit 100 signatures of qualified registered voters to get the process rolling. From there, the state Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) has 60 days to decide whether to certify the proposal for further signature gathering to qualify for the 2026 ballot.

While language of the prospective ballot measure is not available on Natural Medicine Alaska’s website—and the group did not immediately respond to an emailed request from Marijuana Moment—a policy outline explains the plan as “building off of” Colorado’s voter-approved 2022 Natural Medicine Health Act, under which facilitators recently administered the state’s first legal dose of psilocybin.

The Alaska proposal would legalize non-commercial use, cultivation and sharing of DMT, non-peyote mescaline, psilocybin and psilocin under a so-called “grow, gather, gift” model popular among psychedelic reform proponents.

It would further create a state-regulated program where adults would be administered natural medicines in a supervised setting, and it would allow certain medical professionals to “prescribe and dispense microdoses…to patients.”

The policy outline says the measure “shifts away from a restrictive healing center model, allowing individual practitioners to provide [natural medicine] in their offices and at-home facilitation, increasing accessibility in rural communities” common in Alaska.

Facilities would need to be “majority Alaska-owned, ensuring economic benefits stay within the state.”

Traditional healers would also be protected under the proposed initiative for “ceremonial, spiritual, or cultural use of plant medicines” through legal exemptions to state drug laws.

“We see a future where natural medicines are available as an option to all who are seeking out healing and well-being, a future where education on these medicines empowers the Alaskan community with legalized personal use of psilocybin and other natural psychedelics,” says a Natural Medicine Alaska campaign video uploaded to YouTube in February. “We see an Alaska transformed by the decriminalization of entheogens into a regulated and supportive environment for the therapeutic use of psychedelics.”

One natural medicine, ibogaine, would be specifically prohibited for personal use, though ibogaine treatment centers are included in the proposal as component “to be implemented once Alaska’s regulated access program is established.”

“Traditional use [of iboga] by highly trained and recognized practitioners” would also be protected under the plan.

Other provisions in the policy outline include expungement and record-clearing for past criminal offenses related to natural medicine, local protections “for active duty [military] members, law enforcement and first responders who use [natural medicines] covered under the initiative” and support for synthetic versions of ibogaine “to promote sustainability and prevent overharvesting of natural sources.”

Alaska would be further required under the proposal, the outline says, “to provide psychedelic crisis assessment and intervention training for first responders to enhance their knowledge and skills to quickly and effectively respond to emotional and behavioral crisis events involving [natural medicines].”

A poll last year found that nearly half (49.4 percent) of adults in Alaska would support a ballot measure to more broadly remove criminal penalties for using substances such as psilocybin mushrooms.

That support rose markedly—to nearly two thirds (65 percent)—when participants were told that Alaska has high rates of mental illnesses that could potentially be treated with psychedelics.

Last year, Alaska lawmakers passed legislation to create a state task force to study how to license and regulate psychedelic-assisted therapy. The measure took effect without the signature of Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R).

So far two other states have facilitated psychedelics programs that are fully operational. Oregon voters legalized therapeutic psilocybin in 2020, and Colorado’s program was passed at the ballot box in 2022, with the state’s governor signing legislation a year later to create the regulatory framework for the program.

In Oregon, more people could eventually access legal psilocybin following a recent federal court ruling in favor of plaintiffs who argued that the state’s first-in-the nation psilocybin law wrongfully prevents homebound patients from seeking care.

Four care providers—three licensed psilocybin facilitators and a physician specializing in advanced and terminal illnesses—sued the state about year ago, alleging that the state Psilocybin Services Act (PSA) discriminates against disabled individuals who can’t travel to designated service centers where the substance is administered.

In Maine, meanwhile, lawmakers last week reversed course and rejected a bill to legalize possession of up to one ounce of psilocybin by people 21 and older.

At the federal level, attorneys for a doctor seeking to reschedule psilocybin so he can administer it to terminally ill patients recently demanded an update from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which previously agreed to submit a request for a scientific review of the psychedelic from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Separately in Alaska, a federal judge ruled late last month that state officials did not violate the constitution when restricting intoxicating hemp products in 2023.

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Founded in 1974, High Times rose to prominence as an underground icon. In recent years, the brand fell into receivership, leaving its future uncertain. Josh Kesselman, Founder of RAW Rolling Papers, has personally purchased High Times and its associated assets in an all-cash transaction. Kesselman wants the rebirth of High Times to galvanize the cannabis community and reinvigorate the interest of newer generations in this incredible culture and its legends.Courtesy of Just Jessse[PRESS RELEASE] – PHOENIX, June 17, 2025 – High Times, the single most recognized brand in counterculture, cannabis and psychedelics, has been resurrected and is set to resume publication, Cannabis Cups and the rebuilding of a free-thinking counterculture community.

Josh Kesselman, the entrepreneur and founder of RAW Rolling Papers, has personally purchased exclusively the magazine, Cannabis Cups and associated assets in an all-cash transaction. Alongside partner and former 2000s-era High Times co-owner Matt Stang, this $3.5 million acquisition revives the publishing powerhouse that featured counterculture legends like Charles Bukowski, Willie Nelson, Debbie Harry, Hunter S. Thompson and Bob Marley.

Founded in 1974, High Times rose to prominence as an underground icon. In recent years, the brand fell into receivership, leaving its future uncertain. Kesselman wants its rebirth to galvanize the cannabis community and reinvigorate newer generations’ interest in this incredible culture and its legends.

“This is a ‘pinch yourself’ kind of moment for me, just unbelievable,” Kesselman said. “Eighteen-year-old stoner Josh would be in complete disbelief that I get to bring back a piece of history that has played such an important part in culture and impacted so many lives, including my own. This feels like a dream. Having Matt Stang, an OG and a former owner-operator of the magazine, involved in this acquisition just makes it all come full circle. It’s surreal to be a small part of giving back to the community that helped make me.”

High Times will soon be relaunched as a comprehensive platform serving as a hub for information and connection, mixing legacy with modern relevance. Plans include:

• Relaunching the print magazine in limited-run, collectible editions.
• Reintroducing the iconic Cannabis Cup event series, with third-party judging and zero pay-to-play involvement, returning legitimacy to the industry’s most revered competition.
• Rebuilding the digital platform to host a curated network of cannabis podcasts, experts and community voices.
• Commemorating the brand’s 50-year legacy and heralding the future of free thinking.
• Protecting the truth of the power of the plant.

“This incarnation of High Times is going to be bigger and better than ever,” Stang said. “As an original owner-operator, I’m energized about my partnership with Josh—we’re not just reviving High Times as a news source; we’re positioning it as a guiding light for culture and a definitive authority on all things cannabis and psychedelics. At its heart, this is about reigniting the passion of longtime fans while inspiring a new generation to carry the torch forward. It’s about sharing, connection and honoring the culture that we love so dearly.”

“Our goal is to rebuild the voice of authenticity that defined High Times’ legacy, to cut through the controversy of inaccurate information, create a truly cross-generational community, and restore High Times to its rightful place as an international beacon of counterculture,” Kesselman said. “And most importantly? HAVE FUN while doing it.”

The first revamped Cannabis Cup is expected to return in early 2026.