March 29, 2024

Hart Fowler Reporting from new mobile news desk SUBMARINE #2 (UNNAMED)

Puff Puff Pass Indeed

Del. Joseph “Chris” Obenshain, R-Montgomery, was the only Republican to join Democrats in supporting the House substitute bill. 

Here’s the Governor’s statement issued this morning:

“The proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety. States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far exceed tax revenue. It also does not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety. Addressing the inconsistencies in enforcement and regulation in Virginia’s current laws does not justify expanding access to cannabis, following the failed paths of other states and endangering Virginians’ health and safety,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin in his veto statement for HB 698 and SB 448.

KATE ANDREWS wrote in her article “Pot of Gold”

In 2020, directed by the Virginia General Assembly, which was then under Democratic control, the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission conducted a study on legalizing marijuana in Virginia.

If commercial recreational sales of marijuana were legalized and taxed at 20% to 25%, JLARC estimated the state would reap between $147 million and $300 million in annual net tax revenue. (Some legislators would likely push for lower taxes, which would persuade more marijuana users to move away from the black market, experts say.)

Use, possession and limited cultivation of cannabis by adults is already legal in Virginia, the result of a Democrat-led proposal approved by lawmakers in 2021. But there’s nowhere for adults to legally buy the drug. Illicit stores have thus sprung up to meet consumer demand, with some estimates valuing the unregulated market at roughly $3 billion.

Legalization is also popular with voters; 60% of Virginia voters polled this year by Christopher Newport University support allowing retail sales of recreational marijuana, including 44% of Republicans polled.

Use, possession and limited cultivation of cannabis by adults is already legal in Virginia, the result of a Democrat-led proposal approved by lawmakers in 2021. But there’s nowhere for adults to legally buy the drug. Illicit stores have thus sprung up to meet consumer demand, with some estimates valuing the unregulated market at roughly $3 billion.

Del. Paul Krizek (D) is the legislation’s sponsor in the House, told Marijuana Moment.

“The real issue is eradicating the illicit market,” Krizek said, reiterating comments he made on the House floor before his bill passed:

“The fact of the matter is that drug dealers don’t ID. They’re not checking for age. Those products aren’t lab tested for purity or potency. They don’t accurately label them. And they don’t use childproof packaging. This bill mandates all of those things. We need to bring this into a regulatory framework that will protect our children and our commonwealth, and that’s what I’m trying to do here.”

2024 SESSION

 SB 448 Cannabis control; establishes a framework for creation of a retail marijuana market, penalties.

Introduced by: Aaron R. Rouse

NOT VOTING–Clark, Garrett–2.

Delegate Clark was recorded as not voting. Intended to vote yea.

YEAS–Anthony, Askew, Bennett-Parker, Bulova, Callsen, Carr, Cohen, Cole, Convirs-Fowler, Cousins, Delaney, Feggans, Gardner, Glass, Hayes, Helmer, Henson, Hernandez, Herring, Hope, Jones, Keys-Gamarra, Krizek, Laufer, LeVere Bolling, Lopez, Maldonado, Martinez, McClure, McQuinn, Mundon King, Obenshain, Price, Rasoul, Reaser, Reid, Seibold, Sewell, Shin, Sickles, Simon, Simonds, Srinivasan, Sullivan, Thomas, Torian, Tran, Ward, Watts, Willett, Mr. Speaker–51.

NAYS–Arnold, Austin, Ballard, Batten, Bloxom, Campbell, Cherry, Cordoza, Coyner, Davis, Earley, Ennis, Fowler, Freitas, Gilbert, Green, Griffin, Higgins, Hodges, Kent, Kilgore, Knight, Leftwich, Lovejoy, Marshall, McNamara, Milde, Morefield, Oates, O’Quinn, Orrock, Owen, Phillips, Runion, Scott, P.A., Tata, Taylor, Wachsmann, Walker, Ware, Webert, Wiley, Williams, Wilt, Wright, Wyatt, Zehr–47.

Here’s the What’s Now a “What Could’ve Been” Story

Here’s what the retail sales legislation would do if it becomes law:

  • Retail sales could begin as of May 1, 2025.
  • Adults would be able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis products as determined by regulators.
  • A state tax of 11.625 percent would apply to the retail sale of any cannabis product. Of that, 8 percent would go to the state, local governments would get 2.5 percent and 1.125 percent would fund schools.
  • The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would oversee licensing and regulation of the new industry. Its board of directors would have the authority to control possession, sale, transportation, distribution, delivery and testing of marijuana.
  • Local governments could ban marijuana establishments, but only if voters first approve an opt-out referendum.
  • Locations of retail outlets could not be within 1,000 feet of another marijuana retailer.
  • Cultivators would be regulated by space devoted to marijuana cultivation, known as canopy size. Both indoor and outdoor marijuana cultivation would be allowed, though only growers in lower tiers—with lower limits on canopy size—could grow plants outside. Larger growers would need to cultivate plants indoors. Secure greenhouses would qualify as indoor cultivation.
  • Only direct, face-to-face transactions would be permitted. The legislation would prohibit the use of other avenues, such as vending machines, drive-through windows, internet-based sales platforms and delivery services.
  • Existing medical marijuana providers that enter the adult-use market could apply to open up to five additional retail establishments, which would need to be colocated at their existing licensed facilities.
  • Serving sizes would be capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package.
  • No person could be granted or hold an interest in more than five total licenses, not including transporter licenses.
  • People with convictions for felonies or crimes involving moral turpitude within the past seven years would be ineligible to apply for licensing, as would employees of police or sheriff’s departments if they’re responsible for enforcement of the penal, traffic or motor vehicle laws of the commonwealth.
  • An equity-focused microbusiness program would grant licenses to entities at least two-thirds owned and directly controlled by eligible applicants, which include people with past cannabis misdemeanors, family members of people with past convictions, military veterans, individuals who’ve lived at least three of the past five years in a “historically economically disadvantaged community,” people who’ve attended schools in those areas and individuals who received a federal Pell grant or attended a college or university where at least 30 percent of students are eligible for Pell grants.
  • “Historically economically disadvantaged community” is an area that has recorded marijuana possession offenses at or above 150 percent of the statewide average between 2009 and 2019.
  • Tax revenue from the program would first cover the costs of administering and enforcing the state’s cannabis system. After that, 60 percent of remaining funds would go toward supporting the state’s Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, 25 percent would fund substance use disorder treatment and prevention, 10 percent would go to pre-K programs for at-risk children and 5 percent would fund a public health and awareness campaign.
  • Adults could also share up to 2.5 ounces with other adults without financial remuneration, though gray-market “gifting” of marijuana as part of another transaction would be punishable as a Class 2 misdemeanor and a Class 1 misdemeanor on second and subsequent offenses.
  • A number of other new criminal penalties would be created. Knowingly selling or giving marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia to someone under 21, for example, would be a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum $2,500 fine, as would knowingly selling cannabis to someone reasonably believed to be intoxicated. It would also be a Class 1 misdemeanor to advertise the sale of marijuana paraphernalia to people under 21.
  • Knowingly obtaining marijuana on behalf of someone under 21 would be a Class 1 misdemeanor.
  • People under 21 who possess or use marijuana, or attempt to obtain it, would be subject to a civil penalty of no more than $25 and ordered to enter a substance use disorder treatment and/or education program.
  • Illegal cultivation or manufacture of marijuana, not including legal homegrow, would be a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $2,500 fine.
  • People could process homegrown marijuana into products such as edibles, but butane extraction or the use of other volatile solvents would be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

This Reporting is Ongoing

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