Virginia Legislature Is Pushing For Earlier Adoption Of Retail Cannabis |

Virginia state lawmakers are calling for licensed recreational marijuana sales to begin earlier, arguing that the delay between legalizing cannabis possession and establishing regulated retailers will encourage illicit sales. However, some lawmakers are wary that the idea could jeopardize the state cannabis social equity program before it gets going, and urge their peers to proceed with caution.

At the inaugural meeting of Virginia’s Joint Commission on Cannabis Oversight Tuesday, Democratic delegate Paul Krizek told his legislature colleagues that the marijuana reform in its current form is placing residents of the state in a legal bind.

“We legalized the use of marijuana, but we didn’t legalize the actual purchase of marijuana,” said Krizek.

“We need to get the safe sale of marijuana on the market as soon as possible,” he added.

Virginia cannabis possession legalized in July

In April, Virginia state lawmakers passed law legalizing the sale and use of recreational marijuana. Under this legislation, personal possession of cannabis became legal on July 1st. However, licensed recreational marijuana sales are not expected to begin before 2024, a delay that should give regulators time to draft rules and license cannabis companies for adult use. Speaking at Tuesday’s session, Krizek said the lack of licensed retailers can be confusing for consumers who may be mistakenly shopping from illegal suppliers.

“People know it’s legal and they probably think they can buy it legally. And it’s getting harder and harder to explain that to the public, ”he said. “We don’t want to enable an illegal market out there.”

Several lawmakers have voted in favor of a proposal that would allow the state’s existing medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational cannabis to all adults aged 21 and over. Under current regulations, medical marijuana dispensaries are only allowed to serve patients who are registered with the state pharmacy agency.

The proposal calls for medical marijuana dispensaries to serve adult-use customers to serve as incubators for five applicants who qualify for the upcoming state-owned cannabis social equity program designed to help keep members of the communities hardest hit by the failure War on Drugs leads to corporate ownership in the legal market.

Ngiste Abebe, vice president of public policy at medical marijuana licensee Columbia Care, told local media that the plan to allow recreational cannabis customers to purchase from medical pharmacies would be of benefit to consumers and emerging industries.

“Every other state that has legalized cannabis has used its existing medical market to not only improve access, but also generate tax revenue and funding for social justice priorities,” Abebe said.

Not all legislators are on board with the early introduction

However, not all legislators are in favor of early adoption of cannabis retail in Virginia. House majority leader Charniele Herring, also a Democrat, is concerned that the plan may work against the goals of the social justice program and notes that other government programs to support businesses owned by women or people of color have not always been successful .

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

The majority leader warned her colleagues in the legislature to consider any consequences of changing the current legalization schedule.

“If we go down this route, we should be really careful,” said Herring of the recreational cannabis early sale plan, “because we don’t want to make the mistakes of the past where it’s not on purpose. ”

Democratic Senator Adam Ebbin, chairman of the joint supervisory commission, said it was too early to know if the introduction of retail sales of cannabis would be translated into bill for the next legislative period, which begins in January. But he said the matter was “an important issue to report”.

“This subcommittee is worth looking into to see if this is possible while ensuring solid participation from social justice applicants,” he said.