CBD products at retail store Blossom in the Fan. (BizSense file)
A proposed state law that has some local hemp-related businesses fearing for their futures isn’t written in stone just yet.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Monday, rather than signing it immediately into law, recommended changes to legislation that would establish more regulations on the hemp industry in Virginia. He then sent those potential revisions back to the General Assembly for review.
The crux of the governor’s proposal is to tweak the allowable amounts of THC and CBD in certain hemp products. Youngkin’s version would define hemp products that are legal to sell in the commonwealth as those that contain a total THC concentration no greater than 0.3 percent and have either no more than 2 milligrams of total THC per package or an amount of CBD no less than 25 times greater than the package’s THC total amount.
The hemp-regulating legislation that came before the governor’s desk didn’t initially include a reference to CBD amount as a defining characteristic of what would be considered hemp as opposed to marijuana in the state.
The governor’s tweaks to the legislation (identical bills called House Bill 2294 and Senate Bill 903) would require a retail business to secure permits and pay a $1,000 annual fee per store location to sell hemp-derived products like CBD edibles and smokable flower. The sale of topical products appears exempt from this requirement, based on the language of the governor’s amendment.
The previous version of the legislation also proposed a permit for retailers to sell hemp products but didn’t include an amount for the associated cost of the permit.
There currently isn’t a license requirement for retailers to sell hemp-derived products. Other types of businesses in the industry, like manufacturers and growers, require licenses. Businesses that sell or manufacture hemp products without a permit or in defiance of the proposed regulations would face up to $10,000 fines daily, per the legislation.
The governor’s new proposal would require the packaging of topical CBD products to state they aren’t intended for consumption. Under the proposed changes, topical products manufactured before July 1 that lack such a warning could still be sold legally.
The governor’s recommendations strike out the requirement in the legislation’s previous iteration which called for a bittering agent be added to topical products.
Packaging, labeling and testing requirements for hemp-based products passed the governor’s review, and those requirements include child-resistant packaging and certifications that the products have been tested for their THC level.
The legislation and its amendments now goes back to the General Assembly for a vote. The General Assembly is scheduled to meet April 12 to consider the governor’s vetoes and amendments.
In the run-up to the governor’s review of the bills, hemp businesses have been critical of the new regulations because they say the new rules would disrupt the industry and render many products in their inventories illegal.
While the governor’s changes are a step in the right direction, the legislation as amended would still upend the current hemp industry, according to Yan Gleyzer, who owns Colonial Heights-based VGI Distribution. In addition to that company that distributes CBD products, Gleyzer also owns CBD manufacturing company Chesterfield Hemp Co. and regional retail chain The Vape Guys.
“With that ratio some products will stay on the market. I’ll say that’s a good thing, but it’s not good enough. Because instead of 99 percent of the products being removed from the market, now it’ll be 90 percent of the products will be removed from the market,” Gleyzer said. “The amount of products they’re removing is still an issue.”
Gleyzer was also critical of the proposed permit fee for retailers. He said the looming regulations have him planning to move his distribution and manufacturing businesses to North Carolina.
“The last two years were a roller coaster. It just shows us that Virginia is just not a business-friendly state at the moment,” he said.
Hemp regulations are in the offing due to health safety concerns driven by instances of children ingesting cannabis products by accident.
“The Governor’s amendment continues his efforts to crack down on dangerous THC intoxicants, including synthetic products such as Delta 8,” Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said in an email Tuesday. “Following feedback from parents whose children have experienced positive benefits from CBD products, the substitute also includes a narrowly tailored exemption clarifying that the legislation will not outlaw those therapeutic products.”
Several Virginia-based health organizations like the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians sent a letter to Youngkin that asked him to support the hemp legislation that passed with bipartisan support in the General Assembly in February. The Virginia Sheriffs’ Association has also voiced support for further regulations.
Local CBD brand Kultivate Wellness owner Evan Somogyi said that the governor’s amendments aren’t much of an improvement on the legislation, which he felt would be damaging to the industry but not deter the culprits that have motivated the legislation.
“I have freaking stores down the street from me selling fake THC (vape) cartridges,” Somogyi said. “All these bad actors are going to continue doing what they’re doing.”
As for the broader cannabis market, the General Assembly failed to pass legislation earlier this year to create a legal recreational pot market in the state. The only entities authorized to sell marijuana are medical cannabis providers that have been cleared to operate in the state.
It’s legal for people in Virginia to consume recreational marijuana and grow and possess small amounts of it.
CBD products at retail store Blossom in the Fan. (BizSense file)
A proposed state law that has some local hemp-related businesses fearing for their futures isn’t written in stone just yet.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Monday, rather than signing it immediately into law, recommended changes to legislation that would establish more regulations on the hemp industry in Virginia. He then sent those potential revisions back to the General Assembly for review.
The crux of the governor’s proposal is to tweak the allowable amounts of THC and CBD in certain hemp products. Youngkin’s version would define hemp products that are legal to sell in the commonwealth as those that contain a total THC concentration no greater than 0.3 percent and have either no more than 2 milligrams of total THC per package or an amount of CBD no less than 25 times greater than the package’s THC total amount.
The hemp-regulating legislation that came before the governor’s desk didn’t initially include a reference to CBD amount as a defining characteristic of what would be considered hemp as opposed to marijuana in the state.
The governor’s tweaks to the legislation (identical bills called House Bill 2294 and Senate Bill 903) would require a retail business to secure permits and pay a $1,000 annual fee per store location to sell hemp-derived products like CBD edibles and smokable flower. The sale of topical products appears exempt from this requirement, based on the language of the governor’s amendment.
The previous version of the legislation also proposed a permit for retailers to sell hemp products but didn’t include an amount for the associated cost of the permit.
There currently isn’t a license requirement for retailers to sell hemp-derived products. Other types of businesses in the industry, like manufacturers and growers, require licenses. Businesses that sell or manufacture hemp products without a permit or in defiance of the proposed regulations would face up to $10,000 fines daily, per the legislation.
The governor’s new proposal would require the packaging of topical CBD products to state they aren’t intended for consumption. Under the proposed changes, topical products manufactured before July 1 that lack such a warning could still be sold legally.
The governor’s recommendations strike out the requirement in the legislation’s previous iteration which called for a bittering agent be added to topical products.
Packaging, labeling and testing requirements for hemp-based products passed the governor’s review, and those requirements include child-resistant packaging and certifications that the products have been tested for their THC level.
The legislation and its amendments now goes back to the General Assembly for a vote. The General Assembly is scheduled to meet April 12 to consider the governor’s vetoes and amendments.
In the run-up to the governor’s review of the bills, hemp businesses have been critical of the new regulations because they say the new rules would disrupt the industry and render many products in their inventories illegal.
While the governor’s changes are a step in the right direction, the legislation as amended would still upend the current hemp industry, according to Yan Gleyzer, who owns Colonial Heights-based VGI Distribution. In addition to that company that distributes CBD products, Gleyzer also owns CBD manufacturing company Chesterfield Hemp Co. and regional retail chain The Vape Guys.
“With that ratio some products will stay on the market. I’ll say that’s a good thing, but it’s not good enough. Because instead of 99 percent of the products being removed from the market, now it’ll be 90 percent of the products will be removed from the market,” Gleyzer said. “The amount of products they’re removing is still an issue.”
Gleyzer was also critical of the proposed permit fee for retailers. He said the looming regulations have him planning to move his distribution and manufacturing businesses to North Carolina.
“The last two years were a roller coaster. It just shows us that Virginia is just not a business-friendly state at the moment,” he said.
Hemp regulations are in the offing due to health safety concerns driven by instances of children ingesting cannabis products by accident.
“The Governor’s amendment continues his efforts to crack down on dangerous THC intoxicants, including synthetic products such as Delta 8,” Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said in an email Tuesday. “Following feedback from parents whose children have experienced positive benefits from CBD products, the substitute also includes a narrowly tailored exemption clarifying that the legislation will not outlaw those therapeutic products.”
Several Virginia-based health organizations like the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians sent a letter to Youngkin that asked him to support the hemp legislation that passed with bipartisan support in the General Assembly in February. The Virginia Sheriffs’ Association has also voiced support for further regulations.
Local CBD brand Kultivate Wellness owner Evan Somogyi said that the governor’s amendments aren’t much of an improvement on the legislation, which he felt would be damaging to the industry but not deter the culprits that have motivated the legislation.
“I have freaking stores down the street from me selling fake THC (vape) cartridges,” Somogyi said. “All these bad actors are going to continue doing what they’re doing.”
As for the broader cannabis market, the General Assembly failed to pass legislation earlier this year to create a legal recreational pot market in the state. The only entities authorized to sell marijuana are medical cannabis providers that have been cleared to operate in the state.
It’s legal for people in Virginia to consume recreational marijuana and grow and possess small amounts of it.
Shameful! As stated in the article, “The last two years were a roller coaster. It just shows us that Virginia is just not a business-friendly state at the moment,” Younkin is not for business, he’s for BIG business. smdh