Home / Compounds / THC-O Acetate / North Carolina

Is THC-O Acetate Legal in North Carolina? (2026)

Illegal

As of November 12, 2026, THC-O Acetate is illegal to sell (federally scheduled; state law on file reads gray area) in North Carolina. THC-O acetate federally illegal from Nov 12, 2026: it leaves hemp as a cannabinoid the plant cannot make and falls in Schedule I. Controlling source: N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-89(7), Schedule I synthetic cannabinoids.

Verified November 12, 2026 (hash check) · confidence: under review

Is THC-O Acetate Legal? Every state and federal law

North Carolina THC-O Acetate ban status: ban in force

Watchenforcement date in 28 days (H.R. 6500 (Pub. L. 119-103) / Pub. L. 119-37 Sec. 781)
Federal
THC-O acetate federally illegal from Nov 12, 2026: it leaves hemp as a cannabinoid the plant cannot make and falls in Schedule I (effective 2026-11-12). State-law reading underneath: Gray area.
Rule type
permanent
Tier
Under review

What the record says

No North Carolina statute names THC-O acetate. The hemp definition (G.S. 90-87(13a)) covers derivatives of the plant with not more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, which favors legality. But G.S. 90-89(7) places in Schedule I any synthetic chemical compound that is a cannabinoid receptor agonist and mimics the effect of naturally occurring substances, with no hemp exception in that subdivision. THC-O acetate is made by acetylating hemp THC and does not occur in the plant, so it fits the words synthetic chemical compound more closely than plant cannabinoids do. Whether that clause reaches it, given the hemp derivative language, is untested; no enacted hemp rule names it. Separately, the federal hemp definition narrows on November 12, 2026 under P.L. 119-37; that change is tracked in the federal row, not this state row.

Controlling language, verbatim

Any quantity of any synthetic chemical compound that (i) is a cannabinoid receptor agonist and mimics the pharmacological effect of naturally occurring substances or (ii) has a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is not listed as a controlled substance in Schedules I through V, and is not an FDA-approved drug.

Source of excerpt

Citations

  1. N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-89(7), Schedule I synthetic cannabinoids (North Carolina General Assembly, 2026-11-06) PRIMARYOFFICIAL
  2. N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-87, Controlled Substances Act definitions (hemp, marijuana) (North Carolina General Assembly, 2026-11-06) PRIMARYOFFICIAL
  3. N.C. Gen. Stat. 90–94, Schedule VI controlled substances (tetrahydrocannabinols exception for products at or under 0.3% delta-9 THC) (North Carolina General Assembly, 2026-11-06) PRIMARYOFFICIAL
  4. Senate Bill 59 (2025-2026 Session), hemp age restriction; last action re-referred to House Rules 2026-06-10, not enacted (North Carolina General Assembly, 2026-11-06)OFFICIAL

Where THC-O Acetate stands across the country

LegalRestrictedGray areaIllegalNot yet verified

Among North Carolina’s 4 neighbors, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia are illegal, the same posture as North Carolina.

Open the interactive map · Every compound in North Carolina · Where THC-O Acetate is banned · Hemp ban in North Carolina · THC ban in North Carolina · Federal hemp ban: what changes Nov 12 and Dec 11 · Embed this map

Federal posture

Federally scheduled or prohibited. THC-O acetate federally illegal from Nov 12, 2026: it leaves hemp as a cannabinoid the plant cannot make and falls in Schedule I Federal detail

Verbatim law on file for North Carolina

3 instruments on file for this compound’s framework in North Carolina; 4 of 4 citations above are official sources. Each text carries its source and a fingerprint that changes when the law does.

N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-87(13a), (13b), (16) · N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-87(13a), (13b), (16)OFFICIAL
Instrument
N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-87(13a), (13b), (16)
Source
https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_90/GS_90-87.html
Retrieved
2026-10-07
Fingerprint
7da42f1f4b5f1efc
90-87(13a) ["Hemp" means] "the plant Cannabis sativa (L.) and any part of that plant" [...] "with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than three-tenths of one percent (0.3%)" "on a dry weight basis." (13b) [“Hemp products” means] "all products made from hemp, including, but not limited to, cloth, cordage, fiber, food, fuel" [...]. (16) [Marijuana] "The term does not include hemp or hemp products." [Bracketed spans summarized.]
N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-89(7) · Schedule I controlled substances: synthetic cannabinoidsOFFICIAL
Instrument
Schedule I controlled substances: synthetic cannabinoids
Source
https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_90/GS_90-89.html
Retrieved
2026-11-06
Fingerprint
960fd04779fcaf80
Synthetic cannabinoids. - Any quantity of any synthetic chemical compound that (i) is a cannabinoid receptor agonist and mimics the pharmacological effect of naturally occurring substances or (ii) has a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is not listed as a controlled substance in Schedules I through V, and is not an FDA-approved drug. Synthetic cannabinoids include, but are not limited to, the substances listed in sub-subdivisions a. through p. of this subdivision and any substance that contains any quantity of their salts, isomers (whether optical, positional, or geometric), homologues, and salts of isomers and homologues, unless specifically excepted, whenever the existence of these salts, isomers, homologues, and salts of isomers and homologues is possible within the specific chemical designation. The following substances are examples of synthetic cannabinoids and are not intended to be inclusive of the substances included in this Schedule:
N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 90-87(13a) and (16) (North Carolina Controlled Substances Act - Definitions) · N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 90-87 - Definitions ('Hemp', 'Hemp products', 'Marijuana')OFFICIAL
Instrument
N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 90-87 - Definitions ('Hemp', 'Hemp products', 'Marijuana')
Source
https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_90/GS_90-87.html
Retrieved
2026-07-02
Fingerprint
70c77d00142ac889
(13a) "Hemp" means the plant Cannabis sativa (L.) and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than three-tenths of one percent (0.3%) on a dry weight basis.

(13b) “Hemp products” means all products made from hemp, including, but not limited to, cloth, cordage, fiber, food, fuel, paint, paper, particleboard, plastics, seed, seed meal and seed oil for consumption, and verified propagules for cultivation if the seeds originate from hemp varieties.

(16) "Marijuana" means all parts of the plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin, but shall not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil, or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination. The term does not include hemp or hemp products.

THC-O Acetate in neighboring states

THC-O Acetate in 46 other states

Closest to THC-O Acetate in North Carolina

Same framework in North Carolina

30 other compounds in North Carolina

Cite this page

Compound Analytics. "Is THC-O Acetate Legal in North Carolina? (2026)." Compound Laws, https://compoundlaws.com/compounds/thco/north-carolina/. Accessed November 13, 2026.

Compound Laws, published by Compound Analytics, reports the record: statutes verbatim, official citations, enforcement facts and verification dates. Nothing here is legal advice and nothing here describes how to get around a law. A jurisdiction with no verified row is reported as not yet verified, never as legal. Found an error? Corrections policy.

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