{"id":53225,"date":"2022-02-28T06:23:49","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T14:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/02\/28\/virginia-house-committee-kills-bill-to-begin-marijuana-sales-this-year\/"},"modified":"2022-02-28T13:46:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T21:46:00","slug":"virginia-house-committee-kills-bill-to-begin-marijuana-sales-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/02\/28\/virginia-house-committee-kills-bill-to-begin-marijuana-sales-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia House Committee Kills Bill To Begin Marijuana Sales This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe longer we wait to have a regulated market, the harder it will be to compete with that illicit market.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury<\/strong><\/p>\n

A House of Delegates subcommittee Monday voted down legislation that would have allowed recreational marijuana sales to begin this September.<\/p>\n

The legislation<\/a>, which had passed the Democratic-controlled Senate<\/a> last week, died on a party line vote, with Republicans opposing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is a bigger issue than we can correct in two weeks\u2019 time,\u201d said Del. Jeff Campbell, R-Smyth.<\/p>\n

Democrats on the panel urged their GOP colleagues to reconsider. \u201cThe longer we wait to have a regulated market, the harder it will be to compete with that illicit market,\u201d said Del. Dawn Adams, D-Richmond.<\/p>\n

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House Republicans just killed legislation that would have established a LEGAL marketplace for buying marijuana in Virginia. <\/p>\n

We could have ended the illicit marijuana market. Now the black market now will continue to thrive, putting Virginians at risk.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Virginia Democrats (@vademocrats) February 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

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\u2019s ban on sales.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n

We worked for years to establish this legal marketplace \u2013 all @GovernorVA<\/a> and House GOP had to do was vote to finalize it. Their inaction allows the illicit market to thrive and decades of disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws to go unaddressed.https:\/\/t.co\/19M29Tm4Nh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Eileen Filler-Corn (@EFillerCorn) February 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

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.<\/p>\n

The chamber never docketed GOP bills that would have advanced legalization alongside Republican priorities like dedicating new tax revenue to school construction.<\/p>\n

With Monday\u2019s vote, Republicans promised to revisit the issue next year, making sometime in mid to late 2023 the earliest retail sales could begin.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirginia Democrats made a great big mess when they legalized marijuana without putting any regulatory or retail structure in place,\u201d said House Speaker Todd Gilbert in a tweet. \u201cWe are left having to clean up their mess and we will not make it worse by rushing to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Let\u2019s be clear: Virginia Democrats made a great big mess when they legalized marijuana without putting any regulatory or retail structure in place. We are left having to clean up their mess and we will not make it worse by rushing to fix it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Speaker Todd Gilbert (@cToddGilbert) February 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

The products have sprung up in specialty shops, gas stations and health markets.<\/p>\n

Hanger\u2019s bill would unambiguously bar sales until the recreational marijuana market opens.<\/p>\n

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed remarks by Del. Jeff Campbell to one of his GOP colleagues.<\/em><\/p>\n

This story was first published by Virginia Mercury.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Three In Four New Hampshire Residents Support Legalizing Marijuana, With Bipartisan Majorities Backing State-Run Model<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The post Virginia House Committee Kills Bill To Begin Marijuana Sales This Year<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Virginia House Committee Kills Bill To Begin Marijuana Sales This Year<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe longer we wait to have a regulated market, the harder it will be to compete with that illicit market.\u201d 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 passedContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53226,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53225\/revisions\/53226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}