On the cusp of potential passage of a medical marijuana bill by the North Carolina Senate, a handful of Black farmers traveled from Eastern North Carolina to speak with lawmakers and protest the lack of input from local growers.

The farmers criticized the bill’s language, which they say opens the door to corporate monopolization and shuts locals out.

“Black farmers and landowners in eastern parts of North Carolina and really across the state have a vested interest in being able to participate in the cannabis industry,” said Moe Matthews, founder and managing partner of Hemp Gen LLC, which sells hemp seeds, flower and processed CBD oils and is located in Williamston.

He said he had been working in hemp sales for five years. The current language in the bill “absolutely shuts out” local growers, he said, who want to “have some input at the table” and “be able to influence what the language would be.”

Senate Bill 3, the “Compassionate Care Act,” ran through multiple committees in a few days, and is expected to go to the Senate floor as soon as next week. If passed by the Senate and the House — which killed the bill last year — medical marijuana would become legal for people who have cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments. Those do not include chronic pain, and the drug would not be allowed for recreational use.