The North Carolina State Senate has passed House Bill 328, a measure aimed at regulating hemp-derived consumables. The bill seeks to impose stricter regulations on hemp products, including restrictions on sales locations, product quality, and consumer age limits.
Sean Buccione, owner of High Tide Wellness in Newport, expressed support for the bill. “I think that the laws are gonna be for the better,” he said.
Buccione’s business offers a variety of products, including flower, concentrate, edibles, CBD, and THC products. “We sell a little bit of everything depending on what the person’s looking for,” he said. High Tide Wellness is a fully integrated company with its own farm, processing lab, kitchen, and storefronts.
Buccione believes that House Bill 328 will benefit both his business and the community. “I do believe that instead of you know—taking it off the shelves, I think regulating it and having standards to it and licensing to it would help a lot,” he said.
He noted the current lack of regulation in the hemp industry, which allows some processing labs to operate without oversight. “Because the Hemp world has no regulations, a lot of these processing labs have—like a free for all. They are able to just do what they want, how they want, they don’t have to regulate it,” Buccione said.
He recommends consumers work with USDA-approved sources to ensure product safety and quality.
