Virginia seems set to stay the one state within the nation with leisure marijuana legalization however with out authorized gross sales.
That established order would proceed if, as broadly anticipated, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin once more vetoes adult-use gross sales legalization payments that state lawmakers just lately despatched to him.
For the second straight yr, Virginia’s Democratic-controlled Basic Meeting handed laws that will lastly arrange adult-use gross sales within the state.
Youngkin’s Democratic predecessor, Ralph Northam, signed legalization into regulation in 2021, however that invoice had a clause that required additional motion to create a market projected to be value a whole lot of hundreds of thousands.
The newest laws would give unique adult-use gross sales rights to the state’s present medical marijuana companies, which embody main multistate operators reminiscent of:
Ayr Wellness.
The Cannabist Co.
Inexperienced Thumb Industries.
Jushi Holdings.
Verano Holdings Corp.
Nevertheless, Youngkin vetoed an identical invoice final yr, citing well being and security issues.
The governor’s press secretary instructed reporters earlier than this legislative session that Youngkin’s views on leisure hashish gross sales haven’t modified, in response to The Washington Instances.
Within the meantime, Virginia’s medical marijuana sufferers are patronizing an enormous illicit market, a 2023 research discovered.
Virginia awards MMJ dispensary licenses by area, with every firm assigned unique rights to a specific space, in response to the state’s Hashish Management Authority.
Miami-based Ayr Wellness, in the meantime, has but to start operations in Virginia.
The method that led to Ayr being awarded the state’s fifth MMJ license is being challenged by seven companies that filed go well with in November, The Richmonder reported.
