Charlotte, NC Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

North Carolina has not legalized cannabis dispensaries, and Charlotte's Unified Development Ordinance contains no zoning category, use table entry, or permit path for one: a keyword search of the UDO's roughly 36,000-line text turns up zero references to cannabis, marijuana, or dispensary. That silence is not an oversight; it follows directly from state law. C. Gen. Stat. Section 90-95(a) makes it unlawful, except as authorized by the Controlled Substances Act, for any person to manufacture, sell, or deliver, or possess with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver, a controlled substance, to create or deliver a counterfeit controlled substance, or simply to possess one.

Marijuana is classified in Schedule VI, and Section 90-95(b)(2) punishes the sale of a Schedule III, IV, V, or VI substance as a Class H felony, with simple possession-with-intent punished as a Class I felony. The statute carves out one narrow exception directly on point for cannabis: the transfer of less than five grams of marijuana for no payment does not count as an unlawful delivery under subsection (a)(1). Because dispensing, selling, or holding cannabis for sale remains a state felony regardless of local zoning, Charlotte has no authority to create a zoning district, conditional use, or special permit that would legalize a dispensary use, since doing so would conflict directly with the Controlled Substances Act.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police enforce Section 90-95 as state law inside the city, and city code enforcement has no separate civil zoning violation to issue against an unpermitted dispensary because none can lawfully open in the first place.