CBD products at Blossom, a store in the Fan. (BizSense file)
The General Assembly voted Wednesday to OK new regulations for the state’s CBD and hemp industry, in line with revisions made to the legislation last month by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
The votes tee up the new rules to take effect July 1.
The legislation passed during Wednesday’s one-day session where lawmakers considered the governor’s vetoes and tweaks to various bills. The legislation breezed through the Senate by a comfortable margin. In the House, lawmakers were more evenly split on the governor’s recommendations in the identical bills, Senate Bill 903 and House Bill 2294, but ultimately approved the amended legislation.
The new rules change the definition of what types of hemp products are legal to sell in Virginia. Those with a total THC concentration of no greater than 0.3 percent are legal under the regulations. Products also must have 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 governor’s proposal added in the CBD amount as a determining factor of what would be considered hemp as opposed to marijuana in the state. Those were in addition to THC limitations in earlier versions of the bill. The governor’s amendments also relaxed some proposed rules on topical products, among other changes.
Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr. (R-Augusta), who sponsored the Senate bill, said the governor’s version of the legislation is an attempt to address the safety concerns created by instances of children ingesting cannabis products, which spurred the talk of regulations in the first place, but also balanced CBD’s use as a medical treatment.
“All these measures that were placed there were either part of the original legislation or basically concessions to the hemp industry to make it more palatable. And particularly for the concerned mothers, if you will, that wanted us to make sure they could still have available these products for their children that have epilepsy,” Hanger said during discussion of the legislation in the Senate on Wednesday.
Also included in the new version is a requirement that a retail business obtain permits and pay a $1,000 fee per store location every year in order to sell hemp-derived products like CBD edibles and smokable flower.
Hemp growers and CBD product manufacturers already are required to have licenses to operate. Businesses that sell or manufacture hemp products without a permit or products that run afoul of approved cannabinoid limits stand to get hit with daily fines of up to $10,000.
Sen. Jeremy McPike (D-Prince William) drew attention to the compliance fee created by the legislation and expressed concern that it could be an especially heavy burden for shop owners who don’t realize their products are outside the law.
“I think there are a number of different sections and penalties with unintended consequences,” he said during the Senate’s consideration. “We now have enforcement going in and asking, ‘How long have you had that package of whatever product it is.’ (A shop owner might say), ‘Well, I’ve had it for a month.’ That’s a $300,000 fine.”
CBD products will be subject to new packaging, labeling and testing requirements, such as child-resistant packaging and certifications that the products have been tested for their THC level. Topical products will need packaging that states they aren’t intended for consumption, though topical products manufactured before July 1 without a warning could still be sold legally.
The latest version of the legislation removed a previous proposal that bittering agents be added to topical products.
As lawmakers considered the new regulations in recent months, the owners of hemp businesses have been critical. They’ve said the regulations will be disruptive to the industry, even after the governor unveiled his tweaks to the legislation in late March.
The new hemp regulations arrive as Virginia still awaits the creation of a legal recreational cannabis market. The General Assembly failed to pass legislation this year to create that market. Only state-approved medical cannabis providers can legally sell marijuana in Virginia.
It is legal for Virginians to consume recreational marijuana and grow and possess small amounts of it.
CBD products at Blossom, a store in the Fan. (BizSense file)
The General Assembly voted Wednesday to OK new regulations for the state’s CBD and hemp industry, in line with revisions made to the legislation last month by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
The votes tee up the new rules to take effect July 1.
The legislation passed during Wednesday’s one-day session where lawmakers considered the governor’s vetoes and tweaks to various bills. The legislation breezed through the Senate by a comfortable margin. In the House, lawmakers were more evenly split on the governor’s recommendations in the identical bills, Senate Bill 903 and House Bill 2294, but ultimately approved the amended legislation.
The new rules change the definition of what types of hemp products are legal to sell in Virginia. Those with a total THC concentration of no greater than 0.3 percent are legal under the regulations. Products also must have 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 governor’s proposal added in the CBD amount as a determining factor of what would be considered hemp as opposed to marijuana in the state. Those were in addition to THC limitations in earlier versions of the bill. The governor’s amendments also relaxed some proposed rules on topical products, among other changes.
Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr. (R-Augusta), who sponsored the Senate bill, said the governor’s version of the legislation is an attempt to address the safety concerns created by instances of children ingesting cannabis products, which spurred the talk of regulations in the first place, but also balanced CBD’s use as a medical treatment.
“All these measures that were placed there were either part of the original legislation or basically concessions to the hemp industry to make it more palatable. And particularly for the concerned mothers, if you will, that wanted us to make sure they could still have available these products for their children that have epilepsy,” Hanger said during discussion of the legislation in the Senate on Wednesday.
Also included in the new version is a requirement that a retail business obtain permits and pay a $1,000 fee per store location every year in order to sell hemp-derived products like CBD edibles and smokable flower.
Hemp growers and CBD product manufacturers already are required to have licenses to operate. Businesses that sell or manufacture hemp products without a permit or products that run afoul of approved cannabinoid limits stand to get hit with daily fines of up to $10,000.
Sen. Jeremy McPike (D-Prince William) drew attention to the compliance fee created by the legislation and expressed concern that it could be an especially heavy burden for shop owners who don’t realize their products are outside the law.
“I think there are a number of different sections and penalties with unintended consequences,” he said during the Senate’s consideration. “We now have enforcement going in and asking, ‘How long have you had that package of whatever product it is.’ (A shop owner might say), ‘Well, I’ve had it for a month.’ That’s a $300,000 fine.”
CBD products will be subject to new packaging, labeling and testing requirements, such as child-resistant packaging and certifications that the products have been tested for their THC level. Topical products will need packaging that states they aren’t intended for consumption, though topical products manufactured before July 1 without a warning could still be sold legally.
The latest version of the legislation removed a previous proposal that bittering agents be added to topical products.
As lawmakers considered the new regulations in recent months, the owners of hemp businesses have been critical. They’ve said the regulations will be disruptive to the industry, even after the governor unveiled his tweaks to the legislation in late March.
The new hemp regulations arrive as Virginia still awaits the creation of a legal recreational cannabis market. The General Assembly failed to pass legislation this year to create that market. Only state-approved medical cannabis providers can legally sell marijuana in Virginia.
It is legal for Virginians to consume recreational marijuana and grow and possess small amounts of it.
I thought republicans tried to represent themselves as wanting a less intrusive government 🙄
One more example of how the republican party has turned into the take-away party.