North Carolina’s Hemp Bill: What HB 328 Says, and Where It Stands

This bill is moving quickly. Everything below is current as of July 28, 2026, and drawn from the North Carolina General Assembly’s official records, the bill text, and the news coverage cited. The House vote described below could happen within days of that date.

North Carolina is one vote away from adopting the new federal hemp standard as state law. House Bill 328, rewritten by a conference committee and adopted by the state Senate 37 to 6 on July 2, is titled “An Act to Conform North Carolina Hemp Law with Federal Standards.” The only step remaining is an up-or-down vote in the North Carolina House, which WUNC reports is expected the week of August 3.

Here is what the official record shows, and what the bill says.

Where HB 328 stands

According to the General Assembly’s official action history:

• April 16, 2025: The House passed the original HB 328, a licensing and regulation framework for hemp-derived consumables, 112 to 0.
• June 19, 2025: The Senate passed a stricter substitute version, 35 to 7.
• April 21, 2026: The House voted 95 to 18 not to accept the Senate’s version, sending the bill to a conference committee.
• July 2, 2026: The Senate adopted the conference committee’s compromise, 37 to 6. The House adjourned without voting on it.

The House has not voted on the conference report, and the bill has not gone to Governor Josh Stein. Reports that it passed the House in July or is awaiting the Governor’s signature do not match the official action history as of this writing. Under legislative rules, a conference report receives a yes-or-no vote with no amendments.

On July 27, a coalition including the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, the Association of Chiefs of Police, the State Bureau of Investigation, the State Highway Patrol, Alcohol Law Enforcement, and the Conference of District Attorneys sent House members a letter urging them to adopt the report, WUNC reported the same day.

What the bill says

The conference report drops the licensing system from the House’s original version. Its central provisions, by the bill’s own text, take effect November 12, 2026, the same day the new federal hemp definition takes effect:

• A total THC definition. The bill rewrites North Carolina’s hemp definition from delta-9 THC alone to total THC at or under 0.3% on a dry weight basis, counting delta-9 THC, 87.7% of THCa, and other THC variants including delta-8 and delta-10. It excludes cannabinoids synthesized or chemically converted outside the plant from the definition of hemp.
• A 0.4 milligram per-container limit. The bill creates a category called the “prohibited finished hemp-derived consumable product”: any final-form ingestible or inhalable product containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, measured at the innermost packaging. A single 5 milligram gummy contains more than 12 times that amount.
• Schedule VI placement. The bill adds prohibited products, and THC variants above the total THC threshold, to Schedule VI of the North Carolina Controlled Substances Act.

The bill also prohibits hemp-derived consumable sales to anyone under 21, sets escalating civil penalties that reach $25,000 for repeat underage-sale violations and $50,000 for repeat sales of prohibited products, and makes retail businesses responsible for employee violations. Separate sections ban synthetic kratom products, set a 21-and-up requirement for natural kratom, and add xylazine to the state’s drug schedules.

The bill’s findings state that North Carolina’s total THC standard is to remain in force notwithstanding any subsequent federal action that would weaken or repeal the federal standard. Congress is currently considering bills that would delay, repeal, or replace the federal hemp redefinition before its November 12 effective date; under the bill’s text, none of those would change the North Carolina standard.

The market at stake

North Carolina currently has no state licensing, testing, labeling, or age-restriction requirements for hemp-derived consumable products; WRAL reported in June 2026 that the state has no statewide law prohibiting under-21 purchases. Industry estimates reported by The Assembly put North Carolina’s hemp retail market at $1.8 billion a year, with roughly 2,200 hemp retailers and more than 16,000 jobs. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, which opposes HB 328, estimates the bill would prohibit about 95% of hemp products currently sold in the state, including most full-spectrum CBD products.

What happens next

• Week of August 3, 2026: The House is expected to vote on the conference report, per WUNC. Passage would send the bill to Governor Stein, whose position has not been publicly reported.
• November 12, 2026: The bill’s hemp provisions take effect, if it becomes law, the same day as the federal redefinition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Has North Carolina banned hemp products?

No. As of July 28, 2026, HB 328 has passed the North Carolina Senate in its final form but still requires a House vote, expected the week of August 3, and then action by the Governor. The official action history shows no House vote on the conference report.

What would HB 328 prohibit?

By its text, finished hemp-derived consumable products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, and any product containing synthetic or chemically converted cannabinoids. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, which opposes the bill, estimates this covers about 95% of products currently sold in the state.

How does HB 328 treat THCa?

The bill counts 87.7% of a product’s THCa toward its total THC concentration, and total THC above 0.3% on a dry weight basis takes a product outside the bill’s hemp definition.

When would the North Carolina hemp ban take effect?

The bill’s hemp provisions take effect November 12, 2026, the same day as the new federal hemp definition.

Would a federal fix undo HB 328?

The bill’s findings state that North Carolina’s total THC standard remains in force notwithstanding any subsequent federal action that would weaken or repeal the federal standard.

The federal total THC standard and its 0.4 milligram per-container limit take effect November 12 regardless of what North Carolina does. Businesses that manufacture in, distribute to, or sell into North Carolina can talk through what this timeline means for their operations with the Hemp Law Group team.