Dems advance bill for marijuana sales, but Youngkin opposes it

The state legalized marijuana consumption in 2021 but did not authorize the buying or selling, and a black market has emerged in the void. A legal market would put safer products into the hands of consumers and create tax revenue, proponents said.

A special Senate panel advanced one of two competing bills on Thursday and spent nearly three hours discussing the finer points of cannabis, including equity issues, licenses, regulations and enforcement.

But its work might be for naught. Gov. Glenn Youngkin has expressed opposition to signing such legislation.

With two bills to choose from, the committee backed legislation from Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach. Rouse’s Senate Bill 448 would green-light cannabis sales on Jan. 1, 2025, and allow all new businesses to begin at the same time. Rouse said no group would be given preferential treatment over another.

The subcommittee chose Rouse’s bill over legislation written by Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, which would have created an incubator program in which medical marijuana companies would nurture small entrepreneurs. Opponents said Ebbin’s bill would give large pharmaceutical companies a head start.

“What this is about is giving the small guys, the little guys, the chance to fulfill a dream of owning a business,” Rouse said.

The bill allows business owners from low-income backgrounds to identify themselves as such. But the bill would not guarantee that low-income entrepreneurs get an advantage. Many who support cannabis legislation believe Black entrepreneurs should get a head start, because Black residents for years were disproportionately arrested and incarcerated for marijuana crimes.

Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice, said the bill leaves out the very people who are supposed to benefit from equity programs. She suggested adding a special impact license for people who have been hurt by old anti-drug laws.

“Rouse’s bill continues to leave out directly impacted people and access to capital, which are the foundations of cannabis equity programs,” Wise said.

Licenses would have tiered structure

The legislation would create a three-tiered structure for business licenses. A cannabis business could become a manufacturer, a transporter or a retail seller. One business could be all three.

There would be a fourth category, too, for testing. A business that receives a license to test marijuana for safety and purity would not be allowed to hold a license in the other three categories. The number of licenses issued by the state would be limited, and a board would be created to oversee the industry.

Products would have to be certified

Testing, packing and labeling would be tightly controlled under the law. Products would have to be certified that they do not contain toxins, mold or other substances. The packages would need to display warning language in a particular font size. Ingredients and the level of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component known as THC, would have to be clearly stated.

Sales would be limited to adults 21 and up, but the bill would increase the number of ounces a person can legally carry from 1 to 2.5. Packages would not be designed in a way that they are appealing to children, as health leaders have said youngsters are getting their hands on marijuana candies, sometimes by accident.

“The whole point is to get untested products off the street and products away from kids,” said Greg Habeeb, a lawyer and former state delegate who now represents the Virginia Cannabis Association.

The bill would allow for a product to hold as much as 10 milligrams of THC, a subject debated in Thursday’s meeting. The bill does not limit THC in terms of a ratio, which was written into a 2023 law to regulate hemp. Last year, lawmakers passed a bill that limits hemp products to no more than 0.3% THC and a 25-to-1 ratio of cannabidiol (CBD) to THC.

Rouse likened cannabis to Tylenol. If you take too much Tylenol, you can get sick, but people are still able to buy an entire bottle and use it safely, he said.

Bill faces a strong headwind

Under the legislation, a business owner would not receive a license if he or she has committed a felony in recent years, not including marijuana felonies. The legislators debated the number of years appropriate.

They discussed whether a police officer should be able to obtain a license, and they removed from the bill language that would have prevented members of the General Assembly from obtaining a license, saying the clause created a worrisome precedent. Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, opened a shop in 2021 that sells hemp and CBD products.

All this work faces a strong headwind. Though Democrats control the House and the Senate, Youngkin can veto legislation that reaches his desk, and he has indicated he would veto marijuana bills.

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

Asked for comment on Thursday, a spokesperson for Youngkin pointed back to the governor’s recent comments.

Opponents to marijuana commercialization warned that an increase in marijuana addiction follows legalization, and a representative of the Virginia Catholic Conference said it would also increase crime. The Catholic group opposes the bill, and the two Republicans on the committee voted against it.

If the bill becomes law, it would allow localities to hold a referendum in which their voters could choose to opt out of the commercial market.