03/13/2022
Thanks to the Delegates who voted NO on the misguided and damaging bill SB 591 :
NAYS--Ballard, Cordoza, Edmunds, Freitas, March, Wampler, Wright--7
Some folks who especially went after the h**p industry here are :
👎 Delegate Dawn Adams
👎 Senator Emmitt Hanger
👎 Delegate Carrie Coyner
~ A real good way to get an F on the 2023 VHC Voter Guide ~
We also witnessed 87 delegates have no concern of throwing the entire legitimate h**p industry under the bus with the passage of this language. They all had absolutely no problem criminalizing h**p businesses , processors and the legitimate third party tested non intoxicating natural h**p products. This bill of course greatly effects Virginia h**p farmers, businesses, processors, retailers and consumers. For consumers if this bill is signed into law by the Governor without major amendments then it would immediately also criminalize the products they possess if the amount was large enough as they would be immediately classified as ma*****na.
For all the retailers like your local market, Kroger and CVS it surly would criminalize the amount they would possess. Is this where we are at in 2022 - going backwards on h**p and defining h**p much stricter then the already strict 2018 Farm Bill definition? The 87 Delegates had no problem smashing the entire h**p industry with a sledgehammer just to go after certain bad apples selling mislabeled and synthetic products.
We learned a lot about Delegates from this bill that was passed without much care to what the Virginia H**p industry has already been through regarding regulations. This is the first time in the entire nation that a legislative body has attempted to redefine h**p in a much stricter way then the 2018 Farm Bill. Many Virginia businesses that have invested and poured millions into the State with tax revenue and job creation have had enough of the disrespect and the game playing by the politicians of the General Assembly and are planing to leave the State if this bill passes. Some are ready to go now either way because the Virginia Senate and House showed they don’t care about them, so easily willing to throw them under their bus in their haste to “do something” about mislabeled and synthetic cannabinoid products.
Also there will be plenty of lawsuits raining down if this bill becomes law so all in all it was a big mistake to pass this terribly written bill.
What happens next ? It will go to Governor Youngkin to sign or amend. Please reach out to his office and his administration like the Commissioner of VDACS and the Secretary of Agriculture in any ways you can to express your frustration to SB 591. We are hopeful the Youngkin Administration will understand what this bill actually does to the Virginia H**p industry and veto it or greatly amend the damaging language. Thank you !
https://www.governor.virginia.gov/communicating-with-the-governors-office/
https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+SB591
