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Sen. Bill Rabon’s Cannabis Story

Sen. William P. “Bill” Rabon (R-Brunswick, District 8) is the Senate Rules Committee chair, a veterinarian, and a stage-3 colon cancer survivor. His May 2023 House Health Committee testimony — in which he disclosed using illegally obtained cannabis during chemotherapy on his oncologist’s advice — has been the human anchor of the Compassionate Care Act for five years.

Last verified: April 2026

Who Sen. Rabon Is

  • Office: NC Senate, District 8 (Brunswick County).
  • Party: Republican.
  • Leadership role: Senate Rules Committee chair — one of the most procedurally powerful seats in the chamber.
  • Profession: Veterinarian.
  • Health history: Stage-3 colon cancer survivor.

The combination — a Republican Rules chair, a medical professional, and a cancer survivor — is what made Rabon’s sponsorship of the Compassionate Care Act unusual and durable. He is not a libertarian outsider; he is the procedural hub of the NC Senate.

The May 30, 2023 House Health Committee Testimony

On May 30, 2023, the House Health Committee heard SB 3, the Compassionate Care Act vehicle that had passed the Senate 36–10 two months earlier. Rabon testified in person. He disclosed:

  • That he had used illegally obtained cannabis during chemotherapy.
  • That his oncologist had advised it.
  • That he had notified his local sheriff and police chief in advance.

His central line:

I know that tens of thousands of people in the state would benefit just as I did.

Sen. Bill Rabon, NC House Health Committee testimony, May 30, 2023

The committee took no vote, and SB 3 ultimately died without a House floor vote. But the testimony reframed the bill in NC media: it was now a sitting Republican senator describing his own illegal cannabis use during cancer treatment. The line has been quoted in nearly every subsequent CCA news cycle.

The 2025 Break

The most consequential development in five years of CCA history is that Sen. Rabon did not refile the Compassionate Care Act in the 2025 session. The bill’s vehicle has shifted to House Democrats — HB 1011, sponsored by Reps. Aisha Dew, Pricey Harrison, and Zack Hawkins, with no Republican co-sponsors. There has been no Republican senator stepping into Rabon’s sponsorship role.

This matters for three reasons:

  1. Senate passage in 2022, 2023, and 2024 was anchored on a Republican Rules chair willing to spend procedural capital. Without that, the Senate vote is not guaranteed.
  2. House Republican — the constituency that has consistently blocked the bill — lose the strongest single argument for moving it: a Republican veteran of cancer treatment carrying it.
  3. The 2025 vehicle is now legible to House Republicans as a partisan Democratic bill, which sharpens, not softens, the “majority of the majority” problem described on the overview page.

What Rabon’s Stance Means for 2026

Sen. Rabon remains in the Senate; he is also a member of Gov. Stein’s NC Advisory Council on Cannabis (Executive Order No. 16, June 3, 2025). His personal position has not reversed. The question is whether he — or any Senate Republican — will refile or carry a 2026 medical-only bill in response to the Council’s December 2026 final report. See the 2026 outlook for the political math.

Why the Personal Story Matters

Patient testimony from the chronic-pain, cancer, and PTSD population has carried the Compassionate Care Act through committee hearings since 2021. See patients in waiting for the broader medical-cannabis void Rabon’s bill is intended to fill, and veterans & cannabis for the PTSD-framing constituency that has historically moved Republican legislators on this issue.

Official Sources

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