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Mecklenburg County state Rep. Jordan Lopez Monday to legalize the sale and use of cannabis. Marijuana is currently illegal in North Carolina but hemp shops selling cannabis products have sprung up across the state.

WFAE’s Julian Berger spoke with Lopez, a Democrat, on what this bill entails.

BERGER: Rep. Lopez, why did you decide to introduce this bill, and what is its biggest impact on the state?

LOPEZ: Several factors behind why, it goes all the way back to when I was running for office, and this was something that came up — especially with engaging with younger voters asking, "hey when you get there, would you advocate for it, would you legalize it?" Polling indicates it is used by a broad amount of people on both sides of the spectrum — whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or an independent, and legalization, whether it be for recreational use or medicinal uses, is also broadly supported across party spectrums.

BERGER: Are you seeing bipartisan support for the bill?

LOPEZ: Primarily Democratic — Democrats are supporting the bill. Republican support for marijuana, at least from the elected official side, has been slim to none for the recreational use of it. I've gotten emails from Republicans, from Republican constituents, who are saying, "hey, I don't live in your district, I wouldn't vote for you if I did, but I do support this bill." I think that says something because there aren't many issues nowadays where you'll get Republicans reaching out to Democrats saying, "hey, I agree with you on that."

BERGER: How does this bill address the impact of cannabis prohibition on communities of color?

LOPEZ: We know that Black and brown communities are arrested at a disproportionate rate, even though rates of usage are about the same for all races. That, in and of itself, should be the first takeaway for people when they're curious about how communities of color will be impacted.

The second part is the reinvestment portion — the funds raised, the revenue raised off this, off the taxing of marijuana sales in the state. Twenty-five percent going to the Community Reinvestment Fund. Another portion is going to the Historically Impacted Enterprise Fund.

If you are somebody who lives in a Black or brown community that has been historically impacted by the war on drugs and you want to start a marijuana or cannabis business — whether that be as the dispensary itself or as a — grower because maybe you live in eastern North Carolina and you're a farmer that has land that has soil that is prime for growth of marijuana plants, this bill would invest in your ability to do that.

BERGER: This bill also includes expungement for past marijuana offenses. How would that work?

LOPEZ: If the bill were to pass today, the Department of Public Safety, or the Administrative Office of the Courts would have until 2028 to begin the automatic expungement of marijuana offenses.

Now this does not include, say if it was a marijuana offense along with a gun violence charge or any other additional charges. Those would still be on somebody's record, but if you were arrested or charged and convicted with a low-level marijuana offense and that follows you around for the rest of your life, even though it is legal in half of the country — and if this bill were to pass, would be legal in the state of North Carolina, that would be expunged off your record and you wouldn't have to worry about that following you around and being something that hangs over your head.

BERGER: This bill is definitely a long shot to get passed in a Republican-dominated General Assembly, and it's not the first time it has been introduced. Why did you decide to reintroduce it despite it most likely not passing?

LOPEZ: The sheer amount of people willing and ready to get engaged in the process — and to reach out to their members, who are already reaching out to me to show their support — that's the reason we should keep this going.

I mentioned before: is marijuana the most important issue going on in North Carolina right now? Probably not. We've got an affordable housing crisis that we've got to solve. We've got a food insecurity crisis we've got to solve. We've got western North Carolina that we've got to help rebuild, but this is another issue that people care deeply about — and as their representatives, we should take this up as something they care about.