Category: Virginia
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Beyond/Hello Set To Open Four New Medical Weed Dispensaries In Northern Virginia
Beyond/Hello, one of only four companies licensed to sell cannabis in Virginia, says it’s gearing up to open four new dispensaries in the commonwealth over the next year. All four locations will be in Northern Virginia. One of them, located along Richmond Highway in Alexandria, could start serving patients “within two to four weeks,” Beyond/Hello’s…
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Virginia Regulators Are Planning A Crackdown on Hemp Extracts Like Delta-8
Virginia regulators plan to step up efforts to rein in the sale and production of THC products that are synthetically derived from the hemp plant, like Delta-8. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) and Office of the Attorney General (OAG) announced last week that business owners who don’t fall in line with…
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DMV Parents Are Opening Up About Their Cannabis Use, But Taboos Remain
With more American adults using cannabis than ever before, the notion that parents who smoke pot aren’t inept caretakers is quickly gaining traction. In popular culture, the stoner parent is no longer relegated to the margins, with celebrity moms from Kristen Bell to Amy Schumer readily admitting they toke up. Meanwhile, social media groups like…
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Virginia Lawmakers Approve ‘Opaque’ Budget Deal Creating New Cannabis Crimes
Virginia lawmakers on Wednesday approved a budget package for the state’s upcoming fiscal year that includes last-minute amendments to create new crimes for cannabis possession and impose tougher restrictions on hemp products like CBD. The amendments would make possessing more than four ounces of weed in the commonwealth a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine…
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Could Delaware Leapfrog the DMV on Cannabis Legalization?
Among local drug policy watchers, all eyes were on Virginia and Maryland this spring as lawmakers hotly debated the future of legalization in their states. But in both states, lawmakers eventually punted on setting up a regulated adult-use market, deferring any major decisions — aside from the very question of legalization — until 2023. Meanwhile,…
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Virginia Weed Patients Soon Won’t Need To Register With The State. That’s A Big Deal.
Cannabis advocates in Virginia were laser-focused last month on stopping a bill that threatened to devastate the commonwealth’s hemp industry while creating new crimes for pot possession. Their efforts paid off when the measure was narrowly voted down by the General Assembly, but the passage of another consequential piece of weed legislation may have gotten…
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Activists Urging Psilocybin Access For Terminally Ill Patients Arrested At DEA Headquarters
Around two-dozen activists rallied on Monday outside the headquarters of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Arlington, Va. to protest the agency’s refusal to grant people with terminal illnesses access to experimental drugs like psilocybin and MDMA. For several hours, the demonstrators blocked entrances to the federal building, shouting slogans like “DEA, get out…
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Virginia Lawmakers Drop Bill To Create New Weed Crimes, Crack Down On Delta-8
The Virginia Senate on Wednesday voted to shelve a bill that would have created new crimes for possessing weed while imposing stricter restrictions on the commonwealth’s hemp industry. S.B. 591, introduced in January by Sen. Emmett Hanger, a Republican representing Mount Solon, initially sought to prohibit the sale of weed edibles shaped like candy in…
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How Youngkin Turned A Simple Bill Into A ‘Monster’ For Virginia’s Hemp Industry
When first introduced by Virginia Senator Emmett Hanger, S.B. 591 wasn’t the apocalyptic measure that some in the hemp industry now see it as. The bill didn’t include anything about Delta-8 and hardly mentioned hemp. Initially, it mostly dealt with regulating the commonwealth’s medical cannabis industry by prohibiting the sale of weed products in candy-like…
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Eight Ways To Celebrate 420 In The DMV
It’s that time of the year when the sun pokes its head out, flowers start to bloom and the gentle spring breeze carries a subtle, yet unmistakable odor: the sweet smell of cannabis. That’s right — the week of 420 is upon us. And this year the DMV is going all out to ring in…
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How Did The Push For Legal Weed In Virginia Go So Wrong?
This time last year, Virginia Democrats were sky high. While holding the executive and legislative branches, Democrats managed to legalize possession of marijuana in the Commonwealth while becoming the first southern state to do so. Better yet, legalization was imminent, set to be the law of the land by July 1 as an effort to…
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Recreational Pot Sales In Virginia Could Begin This September
Lawmakers in the Virginia Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would allow existing medical dispensaries to sell cannabis to adults come Sept. 15, moving up the start date for recreational sales a full 16 months from its current 2024 deadline. The decision to provide a speedier path to legal sales marks a departure from the…