Apex, NC Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Cannabis dispensary zoning in Apex is a moot question because the state has not enacted either a medical marijuana program or a recreational program. North Carolina remains one of the last holdout states without legalized cannabis in any form. The state Controlled Substances Act (NCGS Chapter 90, Article 5) classifies marijuana as a Schedule VI controlled substance under NCGS 90-94 and criminalizes manufacture, sale, delivery, and possession under NCGS 90-95. Sale of any quantity of marijuana is at minimum a Class H felony under NCGS 90-95(a)(1); sale of 10 pounds or more crosses into trafficking under NCGS 90-95(h)(1) with mandatory minimum sentences. Multiple medical-marijuana bills have been introduced and have died — including the Compassionate Care Act (most recently H 413 in the 2025-2026 Session) — and Governor Stein established the State Advisory Council on Cannabis under Executive Order No. 16 (2025) with a report due by the end of 2026, but no statutory framework for medical or recreational cannabis dispensaries exists as of May 2026. Because the underlying state authorization does not exist, Apex and Wake County have not adopted — and cannot lawfully adopt — any zoning district authorizing a marijuana dispensary; any such local ordinance would be void as preempted by state criminal law. Hemp retail (CBD shops, smoke shops selling hemp-derived products with less than 0.3% THC) is permitted in Apex under standard retail commercial zoning, subject to the federal 2018 Farm Bill and NC SB 762 of 2022 (S.L. 2022-72) regulating hemp cultivation and the NC Industrial Hemp Pilot Program transition. Note that Delta-8 THC and other intoxicating hemp derivatives are in a regulatory grey zone — the NC General Assembly has considered restrictions but as of May 2026 these products are sold openly under hemp authority.