{"id":73188,"date":"2024-03-13T10:57:57","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T18:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/03\/13\/virginia-lawmakers-dont-expect-governor-to-sign-marijuana-sales-bill\/"},"modified":"2024-03-13T19:45:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T03:45:53","slug":"virginia-lawmakers-dont-expect-governor-to-sign-marijuana-sales-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/03\/13\/virginia-lawmakers-dont-expect-governor-to-sign-marijuana-sales-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Lawmakers Don\u2019t Expect Governor To Sign Marijuana Sales Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Though a bill to legalize and regulate retail cannabis sales in Virginia<\/a> has been passed by the legislature and is now awaiting action by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), supportive lawmakers now say they believe it is unlikely the proposal will become law this session.<\/p>\n

Reached for comment on Wednesday, the legislation\u2019s sponsor in the House, Del. Paul Krizek (D), told Marijuana Moment that from the governor\u2019s statements in the press, \u201cit seems pretty clear that he is not a fan of a legally regulated retail market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe even said something to the effect that that he would not want a cannabis store on every street corner,\u201d Krizek added\u2014a hypothetical the lawmaker said was \u201cnot at all accurate and the opposite of what our bill would allow.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Sen. Creigh Deeds (D) relayed to local media that Youngkin isn\u2019t interested. \u201cWe were advised that the governor wasn\u2019t going to sign the [cannabis market] bill under any circumstance,\u201d he said, according to WRIC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The legislation, SB 448<\/a> in the Senate and HB 698<\/a> in the House, was formally transmitted to Youngkin\u2019s desk on Monday. He has through April 8 to act on the bill. His options are to sign it into law, veto it, allow it to become law without his signature or return it to lawmakers with suggested amendments.<\/p>\n

Already the governor has vetoed one of the several marijuana-related measures passed by lawmakers<\/a> this session, standing in the way of a bipartisan measure that would have protected the parental rights of lawful marijuana users. Though that proposal repeatedly passed the Senate on unanimous or near-unanimous votes, Youngkin\u2019s veto message criticized it for \u201caiming to address a non-existent problem\u201d\u2014a claim advocates have said is untrue.<\/p>\n

As for the legal sales bill, Youngkin has repeatedly\u2014albeit nebulously\u2014signaled that he\u2019s not on board.<\/p>\n

In January, for example, the governor said he didn\u2019t have \u201cany interest\u201d in moving forward<\/a> with the Democrat-led cannabis plans. Late last month, his press secretary reiterated those comments in a message to Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would refer you back to the Governor\u2019s comments during the gaggle after the State of the Commonwealth,\u201d Christian Martinez said in an email, \u201cwhere he said he doesn\u2019t have a lot of interest in pressing forward with marijuana legalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point earlier this session, it appeared the retail cannabis bill could become part of a grand deal between Youngkin and legislative Democrats. In December, Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas (D) alluded to a compromise involving a sports stadium project the governor supported<\/a>. But that deal never materialized and Democrats left the governor\u2019s proposed area plan out of budget legislation.<\/p>\n

Deeds held out the possibility that he \u201cmight be surprised\u201d by Youngkin\u2019s approach to the marijuana sales bill when he does act, but added that \u201cthe only way the arena was happening would have been through a compromise on Democratic priorities, and lots of Democratic priorities were not on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krizek, in his comments to Marijuana Moment this week, said that \u201cit\u2019s hard to know what the governor\u2019s plan was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe may or may not have been contemplating including it in his sports arena deal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Use, possession and limited cultivation of cannabis by adults is already legal in Virginia, the result of a Democrat-led proposal\u00a0approved by lawmakers in 2021<\/a>. But there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real issue is eradicating the illicit market,\u201d Krizek said, reiterating comments he made on the House floor before his bill passed:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact of the matter is that drug dealers don\u2019t ID. They\u2019re not checking for age. Those products aren\u2019t lab tested for purity or potency. They don\u2019t accurately label them. And they don\u2019t 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\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to do here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI stand by that statement,\u201d Krizek said Wednesday. \u201cThat should be reason enough to sign the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the governor told Marijuana Moment that he would \u201cpoint you to what Governor Youngkin said at a gaggle in front of the Capitol steps on Thursday March 8th.\u201d<\/p>\n

In those comments, which the staffer excerpted, the Youngkin stated, \u201cI don\u2019t have any interest in the cannabis legislation. I\u2019ve expressed that to people over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what the retail sales legislation would do if it becomes law:<\/strong><\/p>\n