Law Virginia

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Virginia unveils new marijuana legalization website; here's what's legal, and what isn't starting July 1​

Adults over the age of 21 can legally possess up to an ounce of the soon-to-be legalized drug.


NORFOLK, Va. — A years-long effort to legalize marijuana in the state of Virginia hits a major milestone in less than a month.

Beginning July 1, Virginians over the age of 21 can legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana without fear of criminal or civil penalties.

Virginia's General Assembly passed legislation to legalize sales by the year 2024, and Gov. Ralph Northam soon after expedited the process to allow for legal possession before the year's end.



With the hopes of educating the public on what exactly to expect come July, the state launched a new resource tool to help citizens better understand the new law.

“The fact there were multiple versions of the bill that came out, different stories and different aspects, people need to know what’s actually going into effect," Del. Marcia Price told 13News Now Friday. Price was the patron for the House of Delegates version of the marijuana legalization bill.

The new website, cannabis.virginia.gov, is an information hub to answer any questions civilians might have about what is or isn't going into effect. It also outlines what aspects of the drug still need to be addressed in the coming years, and how people interested in getting in on the business-side of things can get involved.

Here's what's legal in just a few weeks:

• Adults 21 years and older will be allowed to possess not more than one ounce of cannabis for personal use.
• Generally, adults 21 years and older will be allowed to use marijuana in private residences. However, nothing prohibits the owner of a private residence from restricting the use of marijuana on its premises.
• Adults 21 and over will also be allowed to grow up to four plants per household (not per person), according to specified requirements (see “Home Cultivation” below).
• “Adult sharing” or transferring one ounce or less of marijuana between persons who are 21 years or older without remuneration will be legal. "Adult sharing" does not include instances in which (i) marijuana is given away contemporaneously with another reciprocal transaction between the same parties; (ii) a gift of marijuana is offered or advertised in conjunction with an offer for the sale of goods or services; or (iii) a gift of marijuana is contingent upon a separate reciprocal transaction for goods or services.

And here's what's still illegal:

• It will remain illegal for anyone to possess more than one ounce of marijuana. Individuals found guilty of possessing more than one ounce, but not more than one pound of marijuana are subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25. Individuals found guilty of possessing more than one pound are subject to a felony.
• It will remain illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to consume, purchase, or possess marijuana, or to attempt to consume, purchase or possess any amount of marijuana.
• It will remain illegal to distribute or sell marijuana, and/or to possess any amount of marijuana with the intent to distribute or sell it. This prohibition applies equally to businesses, which will not be permitted to sell, “gift,” or in any other way distribute marijuana. For more information on how to obtain a license to sell marijuana in the future, see Adult-Use Cannabis Commercial Sales.
• Existing safety measures will remain in place, including prohibiting use of marijuana while driving a motor vehicle or while being a passenger in a motor vehicle being driven; possessing marijuana on school grounds, while operating a school bus, in a motor vehicle transporting passengers for hire, or in a commercial vehicle.

“There were so many twists and turns, rewrites along the way even I have to remind myself of where we are," State Sen. Joe Morrissey told 13News Now, the incorporated chief co-patron for the Senate SB 1406.

Morrissey helped write the marijuana legalization legislation, and even he admits that parts of it are confusing since legalized sales are still years away.

But overall, both Price and Morrissey say that the tool is a useful resource for all Virginians, but not every question can be answered until the state's sales catch up with legalization.

“If I can grow four plants, where do I get the seeds to plant because it’s not legal to purchase them," Morrissey pointed out.

 

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Virginia marijuana legalization timetable has many confused​

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s road to legalizing simple possession of marijuana has had some twists and turns, so it’s not surprising that advocacy groups have been flooded with calls from people trying to understand exactly what will be allowed under state law as of July 1.
Legislators initially voted in February to legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for adult recreational use, but not until 2024, when retail sales would begin. An outcry ensued over the three-year wait before ending pot possession penalties, so in April they voted to move up legalization to this July 1.
Adding to the confusion: lawmakers included a “reenactment clause,” which means the General Assembly will have to vote again next year on major portions of the law, mainly to establish a regulatory framework for the legal marijuana marketplace.
The process has resulted in some contradictions that may not get resolved until years after legalization begins.
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Sen. Adam Ebbin, one of the lead sponsors, said people need to understand the law’s limits for now. Possession of up to one ounce (28.3 grams) with no intent to distribute will become legal for adults, 21 and older. Adults will also be allowed to grow up to four marijuana plants per household. But not much else will change.
“People still need to be careful — this is not an official open marijuana market,” Ebbin said.
Virginia is joining 17 other states with laws allowing adults to possess and consume marijuana. In each one, laws have legalized simple possession before establishing a legal marketplace for buying and selling marijuana, said Jenn Michelle Pedini, the development director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Under Virginia’s law, buying and selling marijuana will remain illegal until Jan. 1, 2024, when retail sales are expected to begin. Smoking marijuana in public also remains against the law.
Pedini, who is also the executive director of Virginia NORML, said the organization fields questions every day from people who are surprised to learn that selling pot won’t be allowed for another three years.
“The only legal sale of cannabis in Virginia is through the medical (marijuana) program,” Pedini said.
Virginia NORML has a page on its website to answer frequently asked questions and clear up confusion. The state also launched a website to answer questions about the new law.
Although people can legally cultivate marijuana plants beginning July 1, it will still be illegal for anyone to buy cannabis seeds or cuttings needed to grow those plants. That’s one of the contradictions bothering Republican Sen. Ryan McDougle, who voted against the legislation.
“The biggest inconsistency is you cannot legally buy marijuana for recreational use in the commonwealth of Virginia,” McDougle said.
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“Under federal rules you can’t transport it (into Virginia), but if you have it, you can possess up to one ounce of it in Virginia. How you get that is the inconsistency. You can’t legally get it, but you can possess it,” he said.
In the original bill, both possession and sales of marijuana would have been legalized in 2024. But many social justice advocates pushed to immediately end the disparate treatment of people of color under existing marijuana laws.
The General Assembly’s research and watchdog agency found that from 2010-2019, Black Virginians were 3.5 times more likely than white Virginians to be arrested for marijuana possession, and 3.9 times more likely to be convicted, even though both populations used marijuana at similar rates.
“We want to do this the right way, and what that means is ending the disparate enforcement, which is going to make a huge change in the lives of thousands of Virginians,” said Alena Yarmosky, Gov. Ralph Northam’s spokeswoman. She said the administration also recognizes the “reality” that “people have marijuana now,” even though it is illegal in Virginia.
According to New Frontier Data’s U.S. Cannabis Report, Virginia had the fourth-largest illicit market last year, encompassing about $1.8 billion, or 3%, of an estimated $60 billion in total illicit sales nationwide.
“Because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level and because Virginia needs time to stand-up the regulatory structure for safe sales, it will not be legal to sell seeds or other marijuana until 2024,” Yarmosky said.
People will be allowed to share small amounts of seeds with one another, but they can’t sell them.
“The primary objective of legalization is to reduce criminalization and then to regulate safe legal access, so we’re checking one box, but we’re not checking the other this year,” Pedini said.
Pedini said may states have expedited adult access to marijuana through their medical marijuana dispensaries, something advocates hope Virginia lawmakers will vote to do in 2022. “Most people aren’t going to grow cannabis, but most people who will want to participate in the adult use market will prefer to do so through a legal avenue,” Pedini said.

 

[momofthegoons]

Virginia Lawmakers Consider Launching Recreational Marijuana Sales Early Through Medical Dispensaries​

The medical industry wants temporary licenses to sell recreational cannabis on the condition they incubate social equity businesses.

By Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury

Virginia lawmakers are already discussing speeding up the three-year delay between marijuana legalization last month and the beginning of retail sales.

“We have legalized the use of marijuana, but we have not legalized the actual purchase of marijuana,” said Del. Paul Krizek, D-Alexandria, during the inaugural meeting Tuesday of the legislature’s Joint Commission on Cannabis Oversight.

“What we need to do is get the safe sales of marijuana out there as soon as possible.”

Members of the commission outlined a proposal from the state’s four licensed medical marijuana producers to begin selling to recreational customers while the broader marketplace ramps up.

The medical industry, which currently can only sell to patients registered with the state board of pharmacy, had unsuccessfully pushed for the measure as lawmakers debated legalization last year. But the proposal didn’t make it into the final bill because lawmakers said they were worried it would give the companies an unfair head start and make it harder for small and minority owned businesses to compete later.

But some lawmakers are sounding less comfortable with their decision to legalize marijuana without providing a way to buy it. Currently, the only legal way to obtain the drug is to grow it yourself or receive it as a gift from someone who has, and even that arrangement is complicated by the fact that it is not legal to purchase seeds or plants.

Krizek worried that waiting until 2024 to open the recreational marketplace—time lawmakers said they needed to write regulations and begin issuing licenses—would only boost illegal market.

“People know it’s legal and they probably think they can buy it legally. And it’s going to become more and more difficult to explain that to the general public,” he said. “We don’t want to facilitate an illegal market out there.”

The medical industry is suggesting that lawmakers give them temporary licenses to sell to recreational customers on the condition that they each serve as an incubator for five new licensees who qualify for a planned social equity program, which is aimed at directing a portion of new marijuana business licenses to Black Virginians, who faced disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws under prohibition.



“Every other state that has legalized cannabis has leveraged their existing medical market to not just increase access but generate the tax revenue and funds for social equity priorities,” said Ngiste Abebe, the vice president of public policy at Columbia Care, which controls two of the state’s medical marijuana licenses.

While several members voiced support for the approach, House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, said she was skeptical, worrying the plan would actually end up hurting the state’s social equity program. She cited past efforts by the state to help minority and woman-owned businesses, which she said haven’t always been particularly successful.

“A minority or woman is brought in and a company says, ‘We’ll incubate you. You’re a partner. Wink,’” Herring said. “Then they get access to a social equity license. It does harm to the whole spirit of what we were trying to do.”

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, who chairs the oversight commission, called it “an important issue to flag.” Asked after the meeting whether he expected legislation would be forthcoming that moved up the date of retail sales, he said it was still too early to say. The General Assembly reconvenes for its next regular session in January.

“It’s worthy of this subcommittee to consider if it can be done while still ensuring robust participation by social equity applicants,” he said.

 

[momofthegoons]

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Virginia Judge Jails Woman For Using Marijuana Before Testifying Against Alleged Domestic Violence Abuser​

“In the middle of a difficult (cross examination), she was detained, interrogated, arrested and removed from the courtroom.”

By Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury

A judge in Loudoun County interrupted the testimony of the alleged victim in a felony domestic violence trial last week to question her drug use, sentencing her to 10 days in jail for contempt of court after she said she had smoked marijuana earlier in the day.

She was then “physically removed from the witness stand by multiple deputies,” according to a brief filed by the commonwealth’s attorney’s office, which supports the woman’s motion to vacate the contempt charge lodged by Circuit Court Judge James P. Fisher.

The woman, who prosecutors say did not appear intoxicated, served two days in jail before she was released on $1,000 bond, according to court records.

“In the middle of a difficult (cross examination), she was detained, interrogated, arrested and removed from the courtroom,” wrote Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Elena Ventura, who argued the woman was “not treated with the respect, sensitivity or dignity required by law.”

Marijuana is now legal in Virginia and prosecutors wrote in their brief that their witness was just anxious and nervous during the approximately hour and a half of testimony she provided against her partner, who was found guilty twice before of abusing her. They said Fisher’s inquiry followed “intense and assertive (defense) questioning focused on drug-addiction and infidelity.”

Prosecutors also wrote that Fisher refused to hear from detectives who had interacted with her before the trial, who they said would have testified her “behaviors were consistent with all prior interactions and that she exhibited no signs of intoxication prior to her testimony.”

But the biggest issue, the commonwealth’s attorneys office said, was that Fisher’s actions “may create a chilling effect surrounding victim willingness to testify in cases of domestic violence, an area of law already replete with victims recanting and/or refusing to cooperate, due to the extensive trauma domestic violence victims experience through the cycle of power and control, especially in cases where victims have mental health concerns, as…in the case at bar.”

Fisher, the former commonwealth’s attorney of Fauquier County and onetime chair of the county’s Republican committee, was appointed by the General Assembly to an eight-year term in 2019. Efforts to reach his office were unsuccessful and judges in Virginia rarely comment on proceedings.

It is not the first time Fisher has jailed someone in his courtroom for contempt—a step that legal observers say is unusual in Virginia.

Fisher had divorce lawyer Rachel Virk jailed overnight in January 2020 after finding her in contempt of court during a hearing in which she pressed him to clarify a ruling. The Virginia Court of Appeals dismissed her appeal of the charge on a technicality, finding that because the order jailing her was signed by the clerk of court rather than the judge, there was no jurisdiction to contest it. Virk has since filed a lawsuit against the clerk of court and sheriff, which is still pending.

Under Virginia’s summary contempt statute, a judge can immediately fine someone up to $250 and jail them for a maximum of 10 days for misbehavior, violence, threats of violence or “vile, contemptuous, or insulting language” in court.

In last week’s domestic abuse trial, the witness’ lawyers say her actions did not meet that standard. The Mercury is not identifying her because she is an alleged domestic violence victim and has not given permission to use her name.

“She did not admit to doing any illegal activity nor did she admit to being under the influence in the courtroom,” said Tom Plofchan, a Loudoun attorney who is representing her with Ryan Campbell. “There was no slurring of her words, nothing that indicated that she had taken some sort of intoxicant that affected her speech or muscular movement.”

Plofchan also questioned the timeline, noting it was an afternoon trial and there was no inquiry as to when in the morning she had used marijuana and how much she had taken.

Both parties also took issue with the way Fisher questioned the witness, noting she was never advised of her constitutional and Miranda rights and that the “independent investigation” he conducted by asking her about her drug use is barred by judicial canon.

A hearing on the motion to vacate the contempt charge is scheduled for next week.

The case has not gone unnoticed by lawmakers from the region, who called Fisher’s decision to jail a domestic abuse victim troubling.

“Just in general when dealing with domestic violence victims, there’s a history of not treating the victim with respect and dignity and we’re supposed to be protecting them first,” said Sen. Jennifer Boysko, a Democrat who represents parts of Loudoun.

Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, an attorney, questioned whether the witness would have been treated the same way if she had said she had a beer that morning instead.

“When we passed the marijuana legalization statute, one of the things we tried to do was ensure marijuana would be treated the same as alcohol,” he said. “I think it’s important going forward that everybody remember that marijuana possession and consumption is now legal.”

The case has also garnered attention from marijuana reform advocates, who called the case emblematic of the stigmatization cannabis users continue to face.

“In 2020, Virginia ended the practice of jailing individuals for using cannabis, and in 2021 made such use explicitly legal for those age 21 and older,” said Jenn Michelle Pedini, executive director of Virginia NORML, the state chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws. “Yet, these changes in code do not facilitate an immediate end to the stigmatization faced by those who choose to consume cannabis, many of whom will continue to be singled out for discrimination by those still wedded to longstanding stereotypes.”

This story was first published by Virginia Mercury.

 

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Marijuana in Virginia: Medical flower or 'bud' and pre-rolls now available in Richmond at gLeaf; Short Pump location opening this month ​

Richmond’s medical marijuana dispensary, Green Leaf, can now sell whole flower cannabis — or bud — for the first time in Virginia.
State law took effect on Sept. 1 allowing whole flower marijuana sales in Virginia for medicinal purposes, including at Dharma Pharmaceuticals in Bristol, Beyond-Hello in Manassas and Columbia Care in Portsmouth.
It took a few days for Green Leaf, known as gLeaf, to get its flower products lab tested, certified and permitted to sell in Richmond.
Since Sept. 10, gLeaf has been able to sell its first flower strain to eager customers. Now, gLeaf, which is the only medical marijuana dispensary in central Virginia, is selling 18 strains of flower cannabis, as well as pre-rolls, otherwise known as joints.

The product addition comes less than a year after the dispensary opened to the public in December, following the state’s legalization of medicinal marijuana for registered patients in July 2020.

“Flower” refers to the smokable part of the cannabis plant and is the most traditional way to consume marijuana. Prior to this month, gLeaf was able to sell only oil-based products such as concentrates, tinctures and vaporization cartridges, as well as edibles, which at gLeaf are available as gummies.

“In most states with medical cannabis, if flower is an option, then 60% of the sales will be for flower,” said Phil Goldberg, president of Green Leaf Medical. Then 10% to 12% “will be edibles with the rest being vapes and concentrates. Now, we’re able to offer the method of administration preferred by most of our patients. ... We anticipate it will grow the program.”

 

[momofthegoons]

‘Cannabis Clubs’ Crop Up In Virginia, Legal Or Not​

Now in month three of the legalization era, Virginians are enjoying newfound freedoms with recreational weed: they can grow up to four plants at home, consume in private at their leisure and give it away to friends and relatives age 21 and over.

And while a sanctioned recreational industry is still a ways off, that hasn’t stopped businesses from setting up their own enterprises where they can charge folks to smoke up.

In Virginia Beach, there’s a new “cannabar” at smoke, vape and CBD shop Queen’s Green Apothecary. As owner Nick Rocha explained to local CBS affiliate WTKR, “Similar to a bar where you go and drink, you’re just enjoying a different type of drug, and that’s full-blown marijuana.” Queen’s Green has been hosting DJ sets, drag shows and other assorted events throughout the summer, according to its Facebook page. Since July 1 (Legalization Day), customers have been able to pay $25 for a day pass, $50 for a weekend or $150 a month, per a recent post, to partake in the company of others.

Charlottesville also has its own namesake “Cannabis Club,” similarly adjoining a smoke, vape, CBD and Delta-8 shop at its downtown mall. The business is reportedly charging $200 for an annual membership, plus discounts on retail goods and admission to events, for patrons to bring their own weed in to enjoy on-site. “You can come and consume your cannabis products in our lounge since you’re not able to consume them on the street,” said owner Matthew Long in an interview last week with NBC 29.

You might be wondering, is this legal?

In short, no. While Virginia lawmakers have considerably relaxed laws governing cannabis — joining 17 states and the District of Columbia in permitting adult use — “it remains illegal to consume marijuana or offer marijuana to another person in any public place,” notes a state webpage devoted to cannabis policy.

What does “public place” mean, though? To quote the text of SB 1406, the legalization bill signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam this spring, “‘public place’ means any place, building, or conveyance to which the public has, or is permitted to have, access.” In addition to restaurants, parks, hotel lobbies and other spaces enumerated in the new law, that would also appear to include vape and smoke shops where anyone can walk in and purchase products.

JM Pedini, executive director of Virginia NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and development director for NORML’s national office, said it’s “tiresome watching places like this pop up to make a buck on the backs of consumers. These businesses are clearly operating outside of what is legally allowed.”

Pedini said that the policy experts and advocates who successfully pushed for legalization for years had two primary objectives: reducing crime and regulating safe access to cannabis.

“The first objective was accomplished by the passage of the legalization bill in 2021,” they said. But regulation, criminal justice reforms and other elements still need to be hashed out by lawmakers, who will revisit the bill to reenact it and send it to the governor's desk.

“And until that happens, there is no legal access outside of the state’s medical cannabis program,” Pedini continued. “Unfortunately what we’re seeing is businesses like these taking advantage of consumers who believe what they’re doing is legal.”

Fortunately for those consumers, law enforcement appears to be looking the other way. In the case of Virginia Beach police, when reached by WTKR, a department spokesperson said there’s room for interpretation in the law, and that officials planned to discuss enforcement with the Commonwealth’s attorney’s office.

Asked by The Outlaw Report whether canna-bars or clubs are legally permitted statewide, the Virginia Attorney General’s Office deferred to local law enforcement and prosecutors.

“I think local law enforcement agencies or Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Offices may be the best folks to talk to about this,” wrote Office of the Attorney General spokesperson Charlotte Gomer in an email.

The operators of both aforementioned cannabis clubs told TV stations that they’re offering safe spaces with dedicated outposts for recreational adult use. Long, in Charlottesville, also made the case that his business “can help educate the markets on what these products are doing for people and what’s the right way to consume them.”

Pedini, meanwhile, said it puts consumers at the mercy of law enforcement if they decide to crack down on such gatherings. They noted that police are still making cannabis arrests in Virginia, even if such charges are already declining rapidly in some regions, while “it does appear they’re willing to turn a blind eye to these businesses.”

Rather than further detailing the illegality of cannabis clubs in additional legislation, Pedini said a solution for lawmakers would be to add a fifth type of business license for hospitality purposes — joining retail, cultivation, wholesale and manufacturing — so consumers can trust that it meets specified safety and regulatory standards.

“The answer here is not to make a very clear law even clearer,” Pedini said. “It’s to add a license to allow establishments like this to exist in a regulated environment.”

Regardless, licenses won’t be approved for businesses for more than two years, with the first day of dispensary sales projected for January 2024.

 

[momofthegoons]

Virginia Legislative Joint Commission Recommends Speeding Up Marijuana Sales Launch By A Year​

A Virginia legislature marijuana oversight panel on Thursday voted in favor of a recommendation to allow adult-use cannabis sales to launch in January 2023—one year earlier than what’s prescribed under the legalization law that passed this year.

The legislature’s Joint Commission on Cannabis Oversight voted 7-1, with one abstention, to expedite retail sales and have the new Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) regulate the program. Those initial sales would be facilitated through existing medical marijuana dispensaries as rules are implemented to license additional recreational retailers.

It remains to be seen whether the full House of Delegates and Senate will ultimately adopt the recommendation when members reconvene next month under incoming Republican leadership in one chamber and the governor’s office.

As it stands under the law as enacted, sales are currently set to begin in 2024. But because of a reenactment clause that was tacked on, legislators are required to hold another vote on the legalization proposal during next year’s session to allow commercial sales. Low-level possession and home cultivation already became legal this year, and those provisions are not subject to reenactment.

“We’re pleased an agreement was reached on a policy recommendation to expedite adult-use sales,” JM Pedini, executive director of Virginia NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “Virginians 21 and older ought to have access at the already-operational dispensaries sooner rather than later, and they have been very clear in their demands to move earlier the date of sales.”

“Still, this legislation will face an uphill battle in the now divided General Assembly,” Pedini, who also serves as NORML’s national development director, added.

Members of the joint commission on Thursday rejected a separate proposal to push up the retail sales timeline to July 2022. They also considered several other items, including the involvement of current hemp businesses in adult-use marijuana cultivation.



While there have been some concern among advocates that the incoming GOP-controlled House might seek to interfere in the implementation of the legalization bill that outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed into law in April. But certain GOP legislators have given assurances that they will not attempt to block sales.

House Speaker-designee Todd Gilbert (R) and Del. Glenn Davis (R) said last month that the current system—where adults 21 and older can possess and cultivate cannabis for personal use but there’s no commercial access to marijuana products—isn’t tenable in the long term. But questions have been raised about what kinds of changes they might seek to make even if they won’t repeal the program altogether.

Gilbert did say that Democrats “didn’t do [legalization] the right way,” but “we’re going to have to fix all that and we’re going to work with the Democratic Senate to fix all that.”

“I imagine the roadmap that they laid out as to how that would occur, if they did it in the future, is going to change dramatically,” he said. “But obviously, we’ve been left with that live grenade kind of rolling around and we need to fix it or else all we have is a black market.”

When the legislature took up legalization this year, the reform measure passed along party lines, without a single Republican voting in favor of the proposal on the floor of the Senate or Assembly. At the time, both chambers were controlled by Democrats.

It was an amendment offered by Northam and adopted by the legislature that made it so personal possession and cultivation would be made legal for adults this year, rather than in 2024 as the bill originally stipulated.

For his part, Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) said in April that he’s “never met anybody who habitually used marijuana and was successful.” In May he described legalization as “another problem that’s going to be dumped at my feet” should he be elected.

Northam was ineligible to run for re-election because Virginia prevents governors from serving consecutive terms.

It remains a possibility that Republicans could seek to undermine the state’s legalization law, but it’s also possible they could craft a bill more to their liking. That would likely mean less of a focus on social equity for communities most impacted by the war on drugs.

While GOP members opposed this year’s legalization bill, pushback by many lawmakers centered on particular provisions, such a change by Northam that would’ve allowed regulators to revoke a company’s business license if it interfered with union organizing efforts or failed to pay prevailing wage.

 

[momofthegoons]

Virginia Lawmakers Divided On Releasing Marijuana Prisoners Following Legalization Taking Effect​

“I think those 10 people deserve a chance to come home.”

By Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury

Nearly a year after Virginia lawmakers voted to legalize possession of marijuana, they remain divided on what—if anything—to do about people currently imprisoned on marijuana charges.

The committee of House and Senate lawmakers tasked with making recommendations for the legislative session that begins Wednesday concluded its work this week with a proposal to begin recreational sales in 2023—a year earlier than initially planned.

But like last year—when resentencing provisions were left out of the original bill—lawmakers said they ran out of time to reach an agreement on how to handle the issue, leaving the debate for the legislative session.

The Virginia Department of Corrections says 10 people are currently serving sentences in which the most serious offense was marijuana. In all of the cases, the people were convicted of transporting five or more pounds of marijuana into the state.

All 10 are expected to be released in the next six years, according to the department, which presented the data Monday to the assembly’s Cannabis Oversight Commission.

Another 560 people are serving sentences partially related to a marijuana offense but have also been found guilty of more serious offenses.

Democrats on the committee said they supported allowing the 560 people in the latter category to petition for a resentencing hearing to allow a judge to decide whether they were giving a longer sentence than they might have otherwise faced as a result of the marijuana charge.

But they disagreed on how to handle the 10 people serving time solely for marijuana convictions.

Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, called for legislation that would provide for their immediate release.

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, said he planned to propose legislation that would also require those 10 people to petition for a resentencing hearing and for a judge to decide whether and how their sentences should be altered. Ebbin reasoned that it remains a felony to transport five or more pounds of marijuana into the state under the revised law.

Scott responded that, “I just visited a medical provider last week and there were thousands of pounds in there, so yeah I think those 10 people deserve a chance to come home.”

The three Republicans on the committee, meanwhile, have not taken a stance. Unlike last year, when Democrats began the process of legalizing the drug on a series of party-line votes, the GOP now occupies the Executive Mansion and holds a narrow majority in the House of Delegates.

And so far, Republicans have said little about how they plan to approach the issue beyond offering broad assurances that they won’t seek to repeal the legislation.

“I think whether or not you support marijuana or don’t’ support marijuana, the reality is we already have laws on the books,” said Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell. “So I think it’s only responsible Virginia fall under a very well regulated market.”

After the meeting Morefield said the House GOP caucus has not arrived at a consensus on how to deal with people in prison for marijuana-related convictions. Likewise, Sen. Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, said Senate Republicans are also still discussing the issue.

Legislation introduced by individual Republican lawmakers so far would gut social equity provisions championed by Democrats and give cities and counties more discretion to blockmarijuana sales at the local level.

Incoming Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has made limited remarks on the subject, telling Virginia Business in an interview last month that “When it comes to commercialization, I think there is a lot of work to be done. I’m not against it, but there’s a lot of work to be done.”

This story was first published by Virginia Mercury.

 

[momofthegoons]

Virginia GOP Lawmakers Begin Forming Plans For Marijuana Sales Launch​

“There will be a bill. There may be multiple bills. But something is going to come out of this chamber.”

By Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury

GOP lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates are taking their first stab at legislation to open the retail marijuana market, introducing bills that would lower the tax rate on sales and redirect proposed social equity funding to school infrastructure.

But leadership in the chamber stressed that the effort remains very much a work in progress and that they expect plenty of changes as the legislation makes its way through the committee system.

“We’ll come up with something,” said Garren Shipley, a spokesman for House Speaker Todd Gilbert, said last week. “There will be a bill. There may be multiple bills. But something is going to come out of this chamber.”

Republicans unanimously opposed legalization when Democrats voted last year to allow people to grow and possess small amounts of marijuana. But Democratic lawmakers’ decision to leave it until this year to finalize the particulars of how a legal retail market would work—combined with the loss of their House majority in November—has left the once-reluctant GOP with a key role in deciding how to proceed.

Gilbert said that while his caucus opposed legalization, he views it as imperative to come up with a mechanism for legal sales, complaining that the legal framework left in place by Democrats has only empowered the black market.

The party has so-far left the heavy lifting on that front to Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, who was among a handful of GOP lawmakers to support reducing penalties for marijuana possession two years ago and is the only member of the party to introduce a comprehensive bill governing retail sales.

Taxes​

While his bill largely tracks with legislation introduced by Democrats in the House and Senate, it diverges in a few key areas.

First, it halves the proposed tax rate on retail sales from 21 percent to 10 percent, which would be the lowest in the country. Webert called the step important to compete with the black market, citing the experience of California, where the combined tax rate on sales is just over 36 percent.

“They have an ungodly huge black market,” Webert said. “So we don’t want the taxes so high that we drive things to the black market.”

His bill also changes how the money would be spent.

Social equity and schools​

Democrats centered their legalization effort around social equity provisions aimed at making amends for disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws in Black communities. To that end, they proposed that 35 percent of tax revenue from marijuana sales be dedicated to a Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, which the law proposed be dedicated to providing scholarships, community programs and business loans to people and communities “historically and disproportionately targeted and affected by drug enforcement.”

Webert’s bill eliminates that fund, instead proposing the revenue for a new grant program to help local governments pay for the cost of repairing or replacing roofs.

Finding more state funds to fix decrepit school buildings has been a focus for some Republicans recently and Webert said his approach would benefit both rural and urban areas that have struggled with the issue.

Webert also proposes tweaking—but not eliminating—a program devised by Democrats to give people negatively impacted by prohibition priority access to marijuana business licenses.

His legislation strikes criteria that would have extended preference to people convicted of marijuana crimes in the past — something that GOP lawmakers vocally opposed last year. But it maintains language that would allow priority access for people who live in areas that were subject to higher than average enforcement or are economically disadvantaged. It also maintains eligibility for people who attended a Virginia historically black college or university.

Referendums, unions and resentencing​

The bill also includes subtler departures from the approach proposed by Democrats. For instance both bills allow localities to hold referendums to opt out of marijuana sales, but the GOP bill would bind towns to the decision of their surrounding county while the Democratic bill treats them as independent jurisdictions. (Legislation from two GOP delegates goes further, barring any retail marijuana stores unless sales are specifically approved by a local referendum.)

The GOP bill also drops languages that would block local governments from passing new zoning rules that apply only to marijuana businesses.

And it strikes language that was aimed at promoting unionization in the new industry by refusing to license business owners who oppose unionization efforts by employees or rely heavily on independent contractors.

For now, Republicans and Democrats have proposed similar stances on resentencing for people currently imprisoned on marijuana charges, allowing them to petition a judge to reconsider their sentence, though the GOP bill excludes people convicted of distributing the drug to minors.

A bill authored by Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield, goes further, proposing automaticresentencing hearings.

Retail sales​

Both chambers have also introduced separate legislation to move the date retail sales can begin from 2024 to 2023—a key recommendation from lawmakers tasked with studying the issue over the summer.

The chambers differ, however, on whether to include large hemp processors in the stop-gap program. The House version limits early sales to existing medical producers. The Senate version allows large industrial hemp processors to also enter the market early.

So far, none of the bills have been docketed in the House of Delegates and it remains unclear when debate on the measures will begin in earnest.

This story was first published by Virginia Mercury.

 

[momofthegoons]

Virginia House Committee Kills Bill To Begin Marijuana Sales This Year​

“The longer we wait to have a regulated market, the harder it will be to compete with that illicit market.”

By Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury

A House of Delegates subcommittee Monday voted down legislation that would have allowed recreational marijuana sales to begin this September.

The legislation, which had passed the Democratic-controlled Senate last week, died on a party line vote, with Republicans opposing.

“I think this is a bigger issue than we can correct in two weeks’ time,” said Del. Jeff Campbell, R-Smyth.

Democrats on the panel urged their GOP colleagues to reconsider. “The longer we wait to have a regulated market, the harder it will be to compete with that illicit market,” said Del. Dawn Adams, D-Richmond.



The General Assembly voted last year to allow people to possess and grow marijuana, but lawmakers have so far been unable to agree on legalized recreational sales. Democrats had set an initial goal of opening sales in 2024, but decided over the summer that was too long to wait, citing concerns that people were openly flouting the state’s ban on sales.

Currently the only legal way to obtain marijuana in Virginia is to grow it, get it as a gift or buy it from a medical dispensary with a prescription.

The politics became more complex after Democrats lost their majority in the House of Delegates in the November elections, leaving Republicans who opposed legalization to broker a final deal.



Coming into the legislative session, Republicans said they would address the issue, framing it as a mess Democrats had left them to clean up. But as the session progressed, it became clear the House GOP caucus was unable to reach an internal consensus on the issue.

The chamber never docketed GOP bills that would have advanced legalization alongside Republican priorities like dedicating new tax revenue to school construction.

With Monday’s vote, Republicans promised to revisit the issue next year, making sometime in mid to late 2023 the earliest retail sales could begin.

“Virginia Democrats made a great big mess when they legalized marijuana without putting any regulatory or retail structure in place,” said House Speaker Todd Gilbert in a tweet. “We are left having to clean up their mess and we will not make it worse by rushing to fix it.”



House Republicans did advance legislation proposed by Del. Emmet Hanger, R-Augusta, which would regulate sales of delta-8 THC products, which give users a similar high as traditional marijuana but whose producers argue is technically legal under state and federal law.

The products have sprung up in specialty shops, gas stations and health markets.

Hanger’s bill would unambiguously bar sales until the recreational marijuana market opens.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed remarks by Del. Jeff Campbell to one of his GOP colleagues.

This story was first published by Virginia Mercury.

 

[Baron23]

Va. bill to allow marijuana resentencing killed by GOP lawmakers​

A Republican-led panel of Virginia House members blocked a bill that would have allowed people incarcerated or on probation for marijuana-related crimes to ask a court for a modified sentence.

A bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Scott Surovell was shot down Monday by 12 Republicans in the House Appropriations Committee.

Ten Democrats supported the legislation.

 

[Baron23]

Virginia Governor signs legislation to improve medical cannabis access​

The Virginia bill signed by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin seeks to alleviate the delays experienced by many patients.​

The governor of Virginia on Monday signed legislation aimed at easing access to the Commonwealth’s medical cannabis program.

Glenn Youngkin, the first-term Republican who took office earlier this year, signed a pair of bills, each identical to one another, that remove a requirement for patients to register with the Virginia Board of Pharmacy after receiving a certification from a medical provider.

JM Pedini, NORML’s Development Director and the Executive Director of Virginia NORML, said that the new law will bring relief to patients in Virginia who have been frustrated by the delays accompanied by the registration with the Board of Pharmacy.

“These legislative improvements will bring great relief to the thousands of Virginians waiting to access the medical cannabis program,” said Pedini.

“We hear from dozens of Virginians each week who are struggling with the registration process and frustrated by the 60-day wait to receive their approval from the Board of Pharmacy.”

The new law “maintains the requirement that patients obtain written certification from a health care provider for medical cannabis,” but the elimination of the step involving the Board of Pharmacy should improve efficiency and access for thousands of medical cannabis patients in Virginia.

According to NORML, Virginia has “currently over 47,000 [medical cannabis program] registrants, with an estimated 8,000 applicants still awaiting approval.”





Additionally, the measure “amends the definition of ‘cannabis oil’ by removing the requirement that only oil from industrial hemp be used in the formulation of cannabis oil.”

The medical cannabis legislation was among 700 bills signed into law by Youngkin, his office said Monday, adding that the governor took action “on a total of 841 bills sent to his desk during the 2022 General Assembly session.”

“Today marks another important step in a journey for the people of Virginia, one which started even before our nation’s founding. Every year the duly elected representatives of the people assemble to pass new laws on behalf of their constituencies, and I am honored to sign these 700 bills into law this year,” Youngkin said in a statement on Monday,

“These bills are all bipartisan, and we can all be proud that together we’ve taken steps to make life easier for Virginians, make our Commonwealth’s economy more competitive, support law enforcement, protect the most vulnerable among us, increase access to health care, and take necessary steps toward making Virginia’s schools the absolute best in the nation.”

Youngkin’s first year in office marks the start of a new era for cannabis policy in Virginia, which became the first state in the southern United States to legalize recreational pot use for adults last year.

But legalization arrived under different political circumstances in Virginia, with the bill passed by a Democratic-controlled General Assembly and signed into law by a Democratic governor, Ralph Northam.

Now, Youngkin has succeeded Northam, who was term-limited, and Republicans have re-claimed control of one chamber of the General Assembly.

That shifted landscape has brought uncertainty to the new cannabis law, particularly as it pertains to commercialization.

Youngkin said prior to taking office that he “will not seek to overturn the law on personal possession,” but he wavered on the matter of retail cannabis sales.

“When it comes to commercialization, I think there is a lot of work to be done. I’m not against it, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” Youngkin said.

“There are some nonstarters, including the forced unionization that’s in the current bill. There have been concerns expressed by law enforcement in how the gap in the laws can actually be enforced. Finally, there’s a real need to make sure that we aren’t promoting an anti-competitive industry. I do understand that there are preferences to make sure that all participants in the industry are qualified to do the industry well.”

Earlier this year, the Democratic-controlled state Senate passed a bill to have cannabis sales begin in September, but the measure went nowhere in the GOP-led House of Delegate

 

[Baron23]

Praise the lord and pass the butter beans.

Virginia senators kill governor's amendment to criminalize cannabis possession​

The governor’s amendment would have made possession of over 2 ounces of cannabis punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.​

An amendment to Virginia’s Senate Bill 591, proposed by Gov. Glen Youngkin (R), would have made marijuana possession a more serious matter than it is today. However, Youngkin’s efforts fell flat because lawmakers refused to advance the bill altogether, advocacy group NORML reported. (Benzinga)

SB 591 was re-referred by legislators to the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services committee, but, since the 2022 legislative session already ended, the legislation will not advance any further this year.

The governor’s amendment would have made possession of over 2 ounces of cannabis punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Possession of over 6 ounces of weed would have been punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or a $2,500 fine.

“The good news is, Governor Youngkin’s effort to recriminalize personal possession failed,” said JM Pedini, executive director of Virginia NORML and NORML's development director.

“The bad news is lawmakers’ inaction today allows for products containing unregulated and potentially unsafe synthetically-derived THC products to continue to proliferate in Virginia,” Pedini added.

 

[Baron23]

Medical Weed Cards No Longer Required in Virginia Starting July 1​

Medical cards will no longer be needed in the state of Virginia, which is expected to help patients in the Commonwealth access cannabis more efficiently.

A week from today, medical cannabis patients in Virginia will no longer need to present a card at a dispensary in order to obtain their prescribed products.

That is thanks to a bill that was signed into law in April that lifted the requirement “for patients to register with the state’s Board of Pharmacy for a license,” according to local news outlet WRIC.

But, per the text of the legislation, the new law still maintains “the requirement that patients obtain written certification from a health care provider for medical cannabis,” while also directing the Board of Pharmacy to “promulgate numerous regulations related to pharmaceutical processors.”

The new law, which officially takes effect on July 1, is aimed at improving the efficiency of the process for patients to obtain medical cannabis in Virginia.

Once it takes effect next week, those patients will be able to obtain their cannabis products from stores as soon as they get a written certificate from a health care provider.

Along with “letting them avoid waiting for a license from the board, a process that can take months, the law will also allow patients to not have to pay a $50 application fee,” WRIC reported.


The measure was signed into law more than two months ago by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican serving in his first term.

In addition to removing the registration requirement, the law also “amends the definition of ‘cannabis oil’ by removing the requirement that only oil from industrial hemp be used in the formulation of cannabis oil.”

Cannabis advocates celebrate the bill becoming law in April, saying it will provide a needed remedy for thousands of Virginia medical weed patients. According to WRIC, data from “Virginia’s Board of Pharmacy shows nearly 47,000 total registered patients and thousands of pending applications, a backlog that has forced the board to hire new workers.”

“These legislative improvements will bring great relief to the thousands of Virginians waiting to access the medical cannabis program,” said JM Pedini, NORML’s Development Director and the Executive Director of Virginia NORML. “We hear from dozens of Virginians each week who are struggling with the registration process and frustrated by the 60-day wait to receive their approval from the Board of Pharmacy.”

Virginia’s medical cannabis law began in 2017, although it initially only permitted “patients suffering from intractable epilepsy to use some types of cannabis oil with a doctor’s certification,” according to the Marijuana Policy Project.

The program has since expanded to include other cannabis products such as edibles and bud.

Last year, Virginia went a step further when it legalized recreational cannabis use for adults, becoming the first state in the southern U.S. to do so.

But that law took effect under a Democratic governor and a Democratic-controlled legislature, and it also launched without a regulated market for cannabis sales in place.

As WRIC put it, that meant that “the commonwealth’s medical cannabis program became the only legal market for people.”


Youngkin took office earlier this year, saying that he had no intention of overturning the law that allowed personal possession, but the outlook for retail sales still appears uncertain.

“When it comes to commercialization, I think there is a lot of work to be done. I’m not against it, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” Youngkin said in an interview not long before he took office. “There are some nonstarters, including the forced unionization that’s in the current bill. There have been concerns expressed by law enforcement in how the gap in the laws can actually be enforced. Finally, there’s a real need to make sure that we aren’t promoting an anti-competitive industry. I do understand that there are preferences to make sure that all participants in the industry are qualified to do the industry well.”

 

[Baron23]

Bill to allow retail Marijuana sales in Virginia by 2024 fails ​

RICHMOND - Virginia won’t begin retail sales of marijuana by 2024 after the last remaining bill to set up the market failed.​

A Republican-controlled House of Delegates subcommittee voted 5-3 along party lines Tuesday to kill legislation from state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) that would have paved the way for recreational sales to begin next year.

Under current law, people 21 and over in Virginia can have up to an ounce of cannabis on them or grow up to four plants in their homes. Virginians can buy marijuana for medicinal purposes with a prescription, but there’s no way for adults to purchase it for recreational use.

The bill passed in 2021 to allow marijuana possession included a reenactment clause requiring the General Assembly to approve the measure again and set a framework for retail sales.

Lawmakers set a 2024 target for legal sales, but the efforts to create a regulatory framework for the market have continued to stall in the General Assembly.

Sen. Ebbin’s bill, similar to one he proposed last year that met the same fate in the House, would have allowed retail recreational sales to begin Jan. 1, 2024, through medical cannabis dispensaries and businesses owned by those living in “historically disadvantaged communities.”

“We are kind of dragging our feet on establishing a retail market that could provide hundreds of millions in tax revenue,” Ebbin told the subcommittee Tuesday.

Chief Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Parker Slaybaugh spoke in opposition to the bill on behalf of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office.

While the governor has “no position” on the proposal for a legal market, Slaybaugh told the panel, the administration is focused on establishing regulations on hemp-based THC products such as delta-8.

Tuesday’s vote likely pushes back the issue until the 2024 General Assembly session. By then, the legislature could look entirely different as all 140 assembly seats are on the ballot this November.

 

[Baron23]

Yet another stunning example of why politicians are venal idiots...ok, in general.

​

Virginia Lawmakers Move To Cut Cannabis Regulators’ Budget While Also Asking Them To Do More​

“To me it puts us in a very difficult situation from a health policy perspective. As soon as something happens, I would imagine somebody’s going to be looking to point fingers at who’s regulating this. I just don’t know how we could do what we’re supposed to do effectively.”

By Graham Moomaw, Virginia Mercury

Lawmakers have signaled they want the new Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to take over the state’s medical marijuana program and act as the main enforcer of stricter rules on cannabis-related advertising.

But the authority, which is still staffing up after being established in 2021, is also battling the prospect of a major budget cut included in an initial spending plan approved last month by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates.


At a meeting of the five-member cannabis authority board Wednesday, Chief Administrative Officer Jamie Patten said the authority has told policymakers it’s concerned about the proposed budget cut and “what it would mean to us being able to operate.”

“Of course, now we’re in this limbo where the session ended,” Patten said, referring to the General Assembly’s decision to adjourn Saturday without a finished budget.

Lawmakers’ differing approaches to how fast the state should stand up an independent authority to act as a cannabis-focused equivalent of the state’s alcohol authority highlights Virginia’s still-jumbled approach to marijuana and hemp.

The House’s proposed funding reduction for the cannabis authority would drop its budget from $8.2 million to $3 million in the current fiscal year. In the next fiscal year, the authority’s funding would fall from $11.2 million to $3 million. The larger amounts the House moved to cut were included in the budget plan Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) proposed late last year.


It’s unclear if the funding reduction will or won’t be included in a final budget deal worked out by Republicans and Democrats over the next few weeks. The budget plan approved by Senate Democrats boosted funding to the authority by $6 million in anticipation of building “the regulatory structure for legal cannabis sales in the Commonwealth.” The Senate budget also provided $1 million in local grant funding for “cannabis youth prevention programs,” an item that wasn’t included in the House budget.

“The key to successful prevention campaigns is ensuring that they are deployed well ahead of policy changes such as cannabis legalization,” the Senate’s budget document says.

The cannabis authority was created as part of the push to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and move toward a legal, regulated market for recreational marijuana sales. Its size and scope have been somewhat unclear, however, because Republican victories in Virginia’s 2021 elections meant the Democrats who put the state on a path to a state-sanctioned marijuana industry no longer had the power to complete the task they started.


In the legislative session that just concluded, Republican leaders pushed to crack down on hemp products that contain intoxicating THC. But they refused to move forward with legalizing retail marijuana sales, frustrating both proponents of fully legalized weed and businesses that sell hemp-derived products like delta-8 and might be forced to stop selling anything that contains intoxicating amounts of THC.

The cannabis authority is stuck in the middle of that dispute.

On its website, the authority is described as “the principal source of government expertise on cannabis” with “authority to develop, issue and enforce rules pertaining to the existing medical cannabis market and a prospective adult-use retail market.”


The authority is also responsible for public awareness campaigns focused on mitigating potential harms of marijuana use. It currently has an advertising push underway warning about the dangers of driving while high.

At the start of 2024, the cannabis authority will take on oversight of the medical cannabis program that’s been under the purview of the Virginia Board of Pharmacy, which awarded the state’s first dispensary permits in 2018.

At least one cannabis authority board member expressed confusion Wednesday about how the authority could run an effective medical marijuana program given state and local authorities’ seemingly lax enforcement approach to unregulated or illegal cannabis shops.

“To me it puts us in a very difficult situation from a health policy perspective. As soon as something happens, I would imagine somebody’s going to be looking to point fingers at who’s regulating this,” said board member Michael Massie, a lawyer and former Portsmouth prosecutor. “I just don’t know how we could do what we’re supposed to do effectively.”

Cannabis authority Acting Head Jeremy Preiss said Massie had “identified a gap” and suggested the authority could engage local law enforcement and the attorney general’s office on ways to “protect the integrity” of the medical program.

“Our formal enforcement responsibilities will be confined to the medical program itself,” Preiss told the board. “We don’t have enforcement authority on other entities.”


The new bill cracking down on THC-infused hemp products, which is awaiting action by Youngkin, would empower the authority to look into possible violations of other cannabis rules, but only at the request of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, currently the main regulatory agency for hemp products, or the attorney general’s office. The bill would allow the authority to “request, but not require, an appropriate legal official to bring an action to enjoin such violation.”

The legislation also instructs the cannabis authority to study how other states are handling smokable and edible hemp products and report its findings to the governor and the legislature by November 1.

A separate bill sent to the governor would enact stricter advertising rules for marijuana and other THC products. It would bar promotion of illegal products, deceptive or unproven messaging and the use of cartoons or other methods to appeal to people under 21 and would restrict outdoor advertising within 500 feet of houses of worship, schools, playgrounds and substance abuse treatment facilities. The bill would make the cannabis authority responsible for enforcing those rules, and would also allow the authority to make exceptions to the advertising rules when warranted.

Before a public comment section at Wednesday’s meeting, Preiss, the authority’s acting chief, issued a disclaimer noting the cannabis authority doesn’t decide what the state’s cannabis laws should be.


“We don’t make policy,” he said. “We implement, explain and provide advice on policies made by elected officials.”

Youngkin is expected to act on all pending bills by April 12, when the legislature will reconvene to take up any gubernatorial amendments and vetoes.

 

[Baron23]

And the beat goes on and on and on. sigh

Could state lawmakers finally implement a Marijuana marketplace?​

As lawmakers prepare to return to the Capitol, one issue is certain to come up again in the next General Assembly — marijuana.​

It’s now legal to possess small amounts of marijuana in Virginia. But nobody has a license to sell it because the General Assembly has repeatedly failed to create a system for licensing authorized retailers.


JM Pedini at Virginia NORML says the new Democratic majority will be constrained by a Republican governor, who has the power to veto or amend anything they send to him.


"That's the million-dollar question," Pedini says. "Can they get a bill to the governor that he will sign or at least let take effect?"


Previous efforts have included social equity licenses – prioritizing people who have a criminal record for breaking drug laws that no longer exist. Dylan Bishop is a lobbyist who has worked on this issue for years.


"I think Republicans have a fundamental and moral issue with having folks that have a criminal record of some sort automatically put to the front of the line to get a license over somebody that may have a totally clear criminal record," says Bishop.


Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration with the current situation, although, so far, no consensus has emerged about what to do next.

 

[Baron23]

$34/gram!! Wow. I guess its too much to expect "face in the public trough" politicians to understand the basics of free market capitalism. People are not going to put up with it and will just drive to other states with full rec like Maryland.

High-priced medical Cannabis in Virginia pushes patients to traditional market ​

High priced medical weed drives Virginian’s out of state or underground.​

A new study from the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority found that the price of medical cannabis in Virginia is significantly higher than in other states, driving 90% of patients to purchase cannabis from sources other than the Virginia medical market. It found that the average price per gram of medical cannabis in Virginia is $34 (HOT DANG!), while the average price in other states is $22. This drives patients to find cheaper weed across state lines or from their block dude.

 

[Baron23]

Poll numbers are clear....electorate supports legalization. Politicians like Youngkin should suffer the consequences if they thwart the public will as he seems to indicate below. Fuck him....people will just drive to Maryland, Delaware, even NJ and buy from the full rec dispensaries.

GOP Virginia Governor Doesn’t Have ‘Any Interest’ In Legalizing Marijuana Sales Under New Democrat-Led Bills​

As Virginia Democrstic lawmakers renew their push to legalize marijuana sales, the Republican governor says the issue isn’t something he’s personally interested in advancing this year.


While advocates are hopeful that commercial legalization could move through both chambers of the legislature, which are now controlled by Democrats, the remarks from Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) indicate that the plan might not be enacted into law even if it is approved by the House of Delegates and Senate.


Following his State of the Commonwealth address on Wednesday, Youngkin was asked about the prospects of further cannabis reform.


“I just don’t have a lot of interest in pressing forward with marijuana legislation,” he told

reporters.


Cannabis is “an area that I really don’t have any interest in,” the governor said

. “What I want us to work on are areas that we can find a meeting of the mind and press forward for the betterment of Virginia.”


The governor is setting a sobering tone for cannabis reform advocates as the 2024 session begins, making the brief comment on the same day that a bill to legalize cannabis sales was filed in the House. A Senate companion is expected to be introduced shortly.


Use, possession and limited personal cultivation of cannabis by adults is already legal in Virginia as the result of a Democrat-led proposal approved by lawmakers in 2021. But Republicans, after winning control of the state House and governor’s office in the 2021 elections, later blocked the required reenactment of a regulatory framework for retail sales. In the interim, the unlicensed market has expanded.


But Democrats’ victories in the most recent election last November to take control of both legislative chambers have some cannabis advocates hopeful that the state could enact cannabis sales provisions this year, though the path requires building strong consensus in the legislature under the looming threat of a veto.


House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D) said it is “an important public safety matter that we have a regulated market.”


“The governor should be careful,” she said. “A bill gets to his desk, and he vetoes it, I’m not sure what that communication is going to be to the public about their safety.”


Youngkin’s disinterest in marijuana reform isn’t necessarily a surprise. Advocates were relieved that he committed to simply not attempt to overturn the noncommercial legalization law enacted by his Democratic predecessor in 2021.


When he was elected, Youngkin said he was “not against” allowing commercial sales, per se. He said there were certain Democratic “non-starters” such as provisions setting labor union requirements for marijuana businesses—and he wanted to address concerns from law enforcement—but he generally indicated that he did believe there was a bill he could support.


That expectation has been quickly tempered at the beginning of the new year, though.


Last session, a cannabis sales bill did advance through the Democratic-controlled Senate, but it stalled out in committee in the House, which at the time had a GOP majority.


The newly filed commercial legalization bill would reenact the earlier sales provisions blocked by Republicans while making a number of updates to the planned regulatory scheme.


Existing medical marijuana businesses in the state would be able to begin adult-use operations on July 1 of this year, while some other businesses—including microbusinesses and a small number of hemp companies—could begin operation on January 1, 2025. Broader issuance of all license types wouldn’t happen until July 1, 2025.


Among other changes, the legislation would create a new microbusiness licensing program, which replaces past equity-licensing provisions. The microbusiness program would offer small business licenses exclusively to eligible individuals, including veterans or people in the state from areas impacted by marijuana policing historically, and would provide technical assistance and other benefits to qualifying applicants.


Sales of adult-use products would be taxed at six percent at the state level, with local governments permitted to levy an additional tax of up to six percent. The proposal would also prohibit outdoor cultivation by cannabis businesses, instead requiring grows to be indoors. Products, meanwhile, would need to be sold in plain packages, free from commercial branding, trademarks and other design.

 

[Baron23]

​

How Virginia’s Competing Marijuana Sales Bills Differ On Licensing, Equity, Taxes And More​

Two different bills to legalize and regulate retail marijuana sales in Virginia cleared a key a crossover deadline last week, increasing hopes among advocates that lawmakers can find consensus on launching a regulated market and send implementation legislation to Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R).


The road to the two measures in their current form has been winding, arguably beginning in 2021, when the state legalized cannabis use and possession. The legislation that passed that session also included a framework for legal sales, but Republicans, after winning control of the House and governor’s office later that year, subsequently blocked the required reenactment of those provisions, leaving consumers with no legal way to purchase products. In the interim, illicit stores have sprung up to meet consumer demand.


Democrats have since retaken control of both chambers of the state legislature, spurring renewed efforts among lawmakers and key stakeholders—including consumer advocates, justice groups, existing medical marijuana operators and small businesses—to push a measure through.

Did investors pray on social equity marijuana license winners?

Last week both the House of Delegates and Senate approved HB 698 and SB 448 respectively, sending the measures to the opposite chambers.


Both bills would launch legal, regulated marijuana sales beginning in 2025, though they differ in timing and which operators would be able to open when—details that have at times caused rifts and shifted alliances among advocates. The measures also differ in their approaches to social equity and redressing past drug war harms, criminal penalties around marijuana activity going forward and even whether commercial cannabis could be legally grown outdoors in one of the nation’s leading tobacco-producing states.



As the two measures now head to the opposite chambers, many expect lawmakers to make further amendments, bending each bill back toward priorities already expressed during the first half of the session. But advocates are nevertheless optimistic that the progress so far bodes well for passing a retail sales bill this year.


Here are some of the key ways the two bills differ in their approach to regulated cannabis sales:

• Priority licensing: The House bill would allow some licensees to open sooner than other applicants. Specifically, it would let medical marijuana operators, up to 60 equity-focused microbusinesses and up to five hemp businesses to begin legal sales on January 1, 2025, while other operators would have to wait until July 2025 to obtain licenses. The Senate bill, by contrast, would not allow any group of retailers to have an early start on sales.
• Timing: Under the House bill, some retailers would be able to open retail marijuana stores on January 1, 2025, with licensing of eligible businesses beginning in July of this year. Licensing of other retailers, however, would not begin until July 2025. The Senate bill would also begin licensing stores as soon as July of this year but would not allow retail sales to begin until after January 1, 2025.
• Social equity: Both bills have provisions that provide some advantage to people from so-called “historically economically disadvantaged areas” that have been disproportionately policed for marijuana in the past. But the House measure includes specific provisions that would prioritize licensing of people with past cannabis convictions, as well as their family members. The House measure would also provide $400,000 in startup capital, as well as other business support, to each of 30 equity-owned microbusinesses. Medical marijuana providers would be required to pay those funds to microbusinesses in order to be eligible to open for sales in January.
• Tax rates: The House bill would tax marijuana at a rate of up to 9 percent, split between state and optional local taxes. The Senate bill would create a maximum tax rate of nearly double that—17.5 percent—which would consist of a 12.5 percent state excise tax, up to a 3.5 percent local tax that municipalities could impose and the 1.125 percent portion of Virginia’s sales tax that funds K–12 education.
• Outdoor cultivation: Outdoor grows would be banned entirely under the House bill, while the Senate bill would allow smaller cultivators to grow outdoors. Larger grows under both bills would be required to be indoors.
• Criminal penalties: Justice reform advocates had preferred the House bill over the Senate’s ever since the Senate version was amended to include a mandatory minimum penalty in some cases. That provision has since been removed, however. Currently both measures create new criminal charges for marijuana-related activity, but the House bill contains more restrictive language and more severe penalties in some cases.

Even if lawmakers and their respective constituencies unite behind a common approach to cannabis sales, passing a bill out of the legislature still won’t guarantee that stores will open. The governor could still veto any measure that lands on his desk, and votes on the two bills so far don’t suggest supporters would have enough GOP support to overturn any veto.


While Youngkin has not explicitly said he’ll veto a retail marijuana proposal, he signaled last month that he doesn’t have “any interest” in legalizing sales under the Democrat-led plans.