The vote next month could change the conversation around marijuana and other hot-button topics. After the dust settles down, legislators and cannabis advocates agree that who controls the House of Delegates or Senate will determine the future of marijuana policy in the Commonwealth–at the very least for the next couple of years.
Marijuana Moment reported that Virginia NORML executive director JM Pedini said, “The outcome of the election in November will determine the fate of cannabis policies in Virginia.” Marijuana will be on the ballot for 2023.
Virginia has legalized the use, possession, and limited personal cultivation by adults as of 2021. Commercial sales, however, are illegal and unregulated. The Republican majority in the House has stood in the way of legislation to allow retail sales, most recently voting down a bill passed in February by the Democratic-controlled Senate from Sen. Adam Ebbin (D).
In an interview conducted last week, Ebbin stated that “we won’t make progress on marijuana without a Democratic Majority in the Virginia General Assembly.” “Republicans have repeatedly stymied efforts to move ahead on regulation and sale of a tested legal product,” Ebbin said in an interview last week.
Generally speaking, Democrats want to legalize cannabis sales. However, elected Republicans prefer to crackdown on the influx of illegal cannabis retailers and delivery companies that have opened in recent years.
The legislature is currently split. Democrats hold a small majority of Senate seats, while Republicans control the House by a narrow margin. This situation makes it difficult for either party pass major reforms.
Pedini stated that “we have a divided legislative body today, with Democrats in control of one chamber and Republicans in the other.” If that is the case, then we can expect the same thing to happen after November: little or no movement on cannabis legislation.
If either party controls both Chambers, however, there is a greater chance of a meaningful shift – either in favor or against legalization.
Pedini said that the best chance of getting a bill on legal sales to the finish line would be if the Democrats controlled both the House and Senate. This could allow legislators to send legislation directly to the governor. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who was first elected in 2021 is set to serve until the end of 2025.
Pedini stated that “if Democrats took the majority in both houses,” they could present a sensible adult-use retail legislation to Gov. Youngkin that he would allow to go into effect.
Youngkin has been reluctant to allow legal sales. In June, a member from his administration stated that the governor had “stated that he was not interested in further steps towards the legalization of recreational marijuana for adults.” However, advocates are hoping that widespread support for marijuana legalization among Virginia voters will dissuade him from vetoing a reform bill passed by the legislature or returning it to lawmakers with major amendments.
Pedini, also the national NORML development director, was asked what kind of legislation he thought would be “pragmatic,” enough to pass through Youngkin. He pointed to a Bill that had been introduced in 2022, which would have allowed licensed medical marijuana dispensaries at the time to expand their sales to include adults over 21. In that proposal, producers were required to pay $1 million in fees, and the products were subject to a 21% excise tax.
Ebbin said Youngkin was “a difficult person to deal with” because he wasn’t forthcoming about his opinions on what he would be willing to support.
The senator stated, “I don’t know what the Governor will sign because he has been a bit cagey in his public comments and not very supportive.” “But we can only move forward with a Democratic majority.”
He added that he did not know if they could do anything to satisfy Youngkin. “But we definitely want our majority to be in place for the new governor.”
Some speculated throughout 2023 that Youngkin would run for President, but he has repeatedly stated his focus is on Virginia. Virginia governors cannot serve consecutively, so the voters will choose a new governor by 2025.
Some legalization supporters worry that if the vote next month goes the other way and Republicans take both chambers, the result could be the return of prohibition. Virginia, with a GOP-controlled state legislature and Youngkin as governor, could be the first in modern cannabis history to reverse legalization.
Pedini stated that “what many voters may not realize, is what’s on the table for commonwealth,” which would be the “frightening rollback” which could happen under a Republican trio.
Ebbin shared this concern.
He told Marijuana Moment that “that is a valid concern.” “There are a number of important issues that will be on the November ballot, including the progress made in cannabis, the right to choice for women, LGBT rights, and the environment. Republicans have repeatedly shown a desire to go backwards.”
Marijuana Moment asked Youngkin’s representatives, House Speaker Todd Gilbert and Senate Minority leader Tommy Norment to comment on the GOP’s plans for cannabis policy reforms.
Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice in Virginia, is a Black organization that has led the charge to legalize cannabis with an emphasis on the harms caused by drug war. She agreed that the upcoming election could have a big impact on cannabis policy. However, she also said that it is possible the legislature will be reluctant to make sweeping changes due to the new districts, members, and committee compositions.
Wise stated, “We are going to have brand new people.” Just the culture of new legislators is that they are not willing to take on too much. Marijuana has a long history and it’s regarded as incredibly difficult. “There is no known champion within the Virginia legislature who is willing to take on this issue.”
She believes that Youngkin will be a deterrent to legalization efforts, even if Democrats hold both chambers. Wise stated that if there is no champion for legalization, the public doesn’t support it and the governor does not want it, the new legislators will not be thinking about marijuana.
She doubts that Republicans will try to ban personal possession and use. She said that even if Republicans had a majority, she did not believe they would try to outlaw personal use and possession because they were so new.
Wise believes that Republicans are willing to spend more money on training police officers and crackingdown on illegal pop-up stores. She said that “they are definitely coming for legalization, but I don’t think it will be simple possession or homegrown.”
Marijuana Justice is seeking a comprehensive bill that will undo the harms of the drug war, including expunging previous convictions for cannabis offenses and integrating social equity ownership in to the legal market.
Wise stated, “We shouldn’t create revenue, profits and corporate benefits that don’t include people being relieved from law enforcement and incarceration, and having their records sealed.” She rejected the idea that lawmakers should concentrate on a fast path to legal marijuana sales through existing medical marijuana businesses. Instead, she advocated for “legalizing cannabis right.”
She continued, “We’re not here just to serve their electoral terms and short-term appointments.” She said that while consumers and lawmakers may want to rush to legal sales, it is important that lawmakers find ways to help individuals and rebuild the communities most affected by prohibition.
Wise stated, “We’ve got people who call themselves Democrats saying we won’t do the nuance so that those folks get some kind of relief.”
Ebbin, senator Ebbin who sponsored the legalization law enacted in 2020, said that he was constrained by the political realities.
When asked if he supported social equity measures, he replied that he thought it was important to have diverse ownership. “But Republicans have been hostile towards equity measures in the recent past.” It’s important to remember that even the equity measures proposed by us won’t be as effective as how the tax revenues are spent. We plan to create a community fund, and spend money on worthwhile projects that help the disadvantaged.
Ebbin’s bill 2021 that was signed by the then-Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) bill did include provisions to legalize and regulate commercial cannabis sales. However, they had to be reenacted by the next legislative session, which did not occur when Republicans gained control of the House and Governor’s Office.
The Senate’s latest measure, which was defeated in the House by the House of Representatives after it passed the Senate in February, would have allowed for recreational cannabis sales to start on January 1, 2020. The sales would have been made through medical cannabis dispensaries and new businesses run by residents of “historically economically depressed communities” who would receive training and support from existing cannabis companies.
The bill included provisions to resentencing people who are currently in prison for cannabis convictions. The marijuana products would have been subjected to an excise duty of 21 percent, with localities able to add a further three percent. The revenue would have been used to support reinvestment programmes for historically economically depressed communities, education programs for youth at risk and addiction prevention services.
Virginia NORML is Pedini’s group. They are conducting a survey of candidates and have published a guide for voters in preparation for the 7th November election. The goal is to inform the electorate on the positions taken by incumbents and their challengers regarding cannabis policy reform.
In Virginia, several businesses that sell hemp products were recently fined five-figure sums in an effort to crackdown on hemp cannabinoid product.
Two companies, as well as a private citizen, have filed a lawsuit over the new tightened rules for hemp products . These set the maximum THC concentration in hemp products to 0.3 percent and 2 milligrams of THC per package. The threshold rendered hundreds on store shelves illegal.
The GOP-controlled House killed another proposal earlier this year that would have allowed medical cannabis businesses to make certain state-level deductions. This vote was taken just days after Republicans defeated the legislation to allow adult-use cannabis sales, as well as legislation to create a psilocybin board and reschedule psychedelic.
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The post Virginia Election next month could set the stage for legal marijuana sales–or a rollback of reform–depending on which party wins appeared initially on Marijuana Moment.
