State legislators in North Carolina pocketed $530,000 in campaign donations in the first half of 2023 from pro-marijuana and casino industry interests as they mulled various legalization proposals, according to a new report.
The major contributions largely poured in from out of state and also from donors who have faced sanctions over unlawful drug and gambling operations, longtime money and politics expert Bob Hall, ex-director of the left-leaning watchdog Democracy North Carolina, said in a report released this week. More than half of the $530,000 came from people who have never given to any legislators in the Tar Heel State before 2022, the document noted.
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“It’s hard to understand why legislative leaders would want to help these shady characters, particularly in the gambling industry, until you see all the money they give politicians,” Hall said.
The release of the pot and gambling report comes as both industries have sparked heightened debate in North Carolina over regulations and laws. In June, Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) signed a bill into law that legalizes sports betting starting next year. North Carolina’s state Senate cleared a bill in early March that would approve medical marijuana sales, but the measure has stalled in the House.
The single largest donor to North Carolina legislators in the first six months of this year was Clint Patterson of Owasso, Oklahoma, who gave $137,900 to 26 lawmakers and four caucus committees, according to the report. He’s the CEO of Mockingbird Cannabis, a licensed medical marijuana grower in Mississippi that faced violations of state regulations over its greenhouse operation. Later, regulators ordered the company to destroy $1 million worth of plants over its failure to abide by the rules.
Another donor was Michael Pappas of Orlando Park, Illinois, executive vice president for business development for the Accel Entertainment Group, a gaming company. Pappas steered $6,400 to North Carolina’s Senate Appropriations Committee Co-Chairman Brent Jackson in mid-March, the report said, marking his first donation to a Tar Heel State legislator. Accel has faced numerous legal troubles and paid a $1 million fine in 2023 to Illinois to end a case alleging it paid unlawful commissions.
“Suddenly, they’re writing checks for $2,000 or $5,000 to a legislator,” Hall said. “It looks like a lobbyist or somebody told them that this is a pay-to-play state — you need to put in the money if you want your bill passed this year or next.”
Hall’s review also found there are 38 gambling-linked associations and businesses, including 29 not located in North Carolina, that are funneling cash to over 70 lobbyists. Separately, 13 pro-pot firms and organizations have paid 29 lobbyists, the report said.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services sent a recommendation this week to the Drug Enforcement Administration that it should reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug, which are substances that have “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence” and include ketamine and certain anabolic steroids.
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Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug, along with heroin, LSD, and peyote. Biden in October of last year pardoned thousands of individuals convicted of federal marijuana possession.
“Following the data and science, HHS has expeditiously responded to President Biden’s directive to HHS Secretary [Xavier Becerra] and provided its scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA on August 29, 2023,” an HHS spokesperson said in a statement.
