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Va went recreation cannabis legal now buy it now

ElGato

Well-known member
Veteran
I have much faith that the Virginia State Gov. will fuck this all up.

I guess we'll see soon enough
 

pop_rocks

In my empire of dirt
420club
oh you know there will be regulations and fees, but for the guy caught with a bag of weed in his pocket this is a big step forward
 
Finally celebrations next week the federal law might go to. All legal In virgina nowxx:gday::tiphat::ying::tumbleweed:

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but that's not how it works. It will be legal federally, but statewide it will still be illegal until legislation passes to change that.

So far, the VA Senate ahs passed a bill (SB 1406) and the VA House has passed a bill (HB 2312), but neither has passed the other's bill for it to be sent to the Governor to sign.

The Senate's bill explicitly states is to create a new agency to handle licensing and regulations, which means that retail will be delayed until 2024. If they let ABC handle it, which the House bill leaves a possibility, then retail could begin in 2023.

Even if they met tomorrow and passed a bill, it would not go into effect until July of this year at the earliest.

If you want to read the bills, go here for SB 1406: https://lis.virginia.gov/000/CannabisBillEngrossed.pdf
Go here for HB 2312: https://lis.virginia.gov/000/housecannabisbillsub2.pdf

Of particular note is that both bills state you may have up to two immature and up to two mature plants for personal use. Immature plants are defined in both bills as " 'Immature plant' means a nonflowering marijuana plant that is no taller than eight inches and no wider than eight inches, is produced from a cutting, clipping, or seedling, and is growing in a container."

For regulations regarding personal grows, see § 4.1-1101 in the Senate bill or the House bill or read below.

§ 4.1-1101. Home cultivation of marijuana for personal use; penalties.

A. A person 21 years of age or older may cultivate up to two mature marijuana plants and two immature marijuana plants for personal use at their place of residence; however, at no point shall a household contain more than two mature marijuana plants and two immature marijuana plants. For purposes of this section, "household" means those individuals, whether related or not, who live in the same house or other place of residence.

A person may only cultivate marijuana plants pursuant to this section at such person's main place of residence.

B. A person who cultivates marijuana for personal use pursuant to this section shall:
1. Ensure that the marijuana is cultivated indoors and is not visible from a public way without the use of aircraft, binoculars, or other optical aids;
2. Take precautions to prevent unauthorized access by persons younger than 21 years of age; and
3. Attach to each mature marijuana plant and immature marijuana a legible tag that includes the person's name, driver's license or identification number, and a notation that the marijuana plant is being grown for personal use as authorized under this section.

C. A person shall not manufacture marijuana concentrate from home-cultivated marijuana. The owner of a property or parcel or tract of land may not intentionally or knowingly allow another person to manufacture marijuana concentrate from home-cultivated marijuana within or on that property or land.

D. The following penalties or punishments shall be imposed on any person convicted of a violation of this section:
1. For possession of more than two mature marijuana plants and two immature marijuana plants but no more than 10 total marijuana plants, (i) a civil penalty of $250 for a first offense, (ii) a Class 3 misdemeanor for a second offense, and (iii) a Class 2 misdemeanor for a third and any subsequent offense;
2. For possession of more than 10 but no more than 49 marijuana plants, a Class 1 misdemeanor;
3. For possession of more than 49 but no more than 100 marijuana plants, a Class 6 felony; and
4. For possession of more than 100 marijuana plants, a felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than 10 years and a fine of not more than $250,000, or both.

§ 4.1-1102. Illegal cultivation or manufacture of marijuana or marijuana products; conspiracy; penalties.

A. Except as otherwise provided in §§ 4.1-700 and 4.1-1101, no person shall cultivate or manufacture marijuana or marijuana products in the Commonwealth without being licensed under this subtitle to cultivate or manufacture such marijuana or marijuana products.

B. Any person convicted of a violation of this section is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

C. If two or more persons conspire together to do any act that is in violation of subsection A, and one or more of such persons does any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy is guilty of a Class 6 felony.



Excited about opening your own store and farm? Well, be prepared to pay $1 million and to have you woke plan laid out. From SB 1406:

§ 4.1-805. Multiple licenses awarded to one person permitted; exceptions.

D. Any person who wishes to possess a license in more than one license category pursuant to subsection B shall pay a $1 million fee to the Board.
[...]
In addition, any licensee who wishes to possess more than one license pursuant to subsection B shall submit a diversity, equity, and inclusion plan to the Cannabis Business Equity and Diversity Support Team (the Support Team) for approval, and upon approval shall implement such plan in accordance with the requirements set by the Support Team.
 
I thought I would add, the difference between the House and Senate bills is fairly minimal. Much of the language in the bills are exactly the same. The big difference is that the Senate bill sets up an new agency called "the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority."

Nearly half of the bills both deal with striking and adding to language of existing legislation, such as criminal charges, gun rights, etc.

Which brings me to another point: how to read these bills. Regular text is existing language in laws, strikethroughs are things to be removed and italics means new additions or original language. Using the search feature is very helpful if you want to look for specific aspects of the bills.

I would highly recommend that if you have any concerns or issues with the legislation, you contact your representatives and, more specifically, the authors of legislation. For example, I think 2 immature and 2 mature plants is a bit prohibitive and that we should be allowed 6 plants total, like most other states allow. I also feel that taxes should be reduced for the state and increased the ceiling for localities to leverage.

I should also note that the bills allow the sale of both seeds and clones.
 

pop_rocks

In my empire of dirt
420club
great post man

dident read the pdf but from you sumation it looks good for the small home grower
there is prvision to grow your own and sale of seeds and clones
the license fees are pretty high and whats up with this "eq/dv support team" for multiple licenses?
 
The quoted license fee of $1m is only for those that want licenses in more than one category. I believe they are being done to prevent larger businesses from muscling out smaller businesses and monopolizing the entire industry, such as having Altria own a bunch of farms, production, retail, etc. If that is their goal, I think there are better (and more reasonable) approaches that wouldn't be detrimental to small businesses. As I see it, it really doesn't hurt the likes of Altria (they have billions, coughing up a few million for licenses isn't a big deal for them), but creates a nearly insurmountable barrier for small businesses.

The equity and diversity stuff is baked into the legislation in both bills. There is a general fund that all marijuana taxes go into to promote equity and diversity and to fund opportunities for "historically marginalized" communities. To my knowledge, this is also being done on the federal level with the bill that recently passed the House.

On its face, I don't really have a problem with the notion, but seeing how these types of boards have played out in other regions, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of finger-wagging when the moonshining mountain-folk start asking why they're not getting a helping hand.

I also think this is rife for abuse, as it's too subjective and up for interpretation. I'm expecting a pay-for-play scandal within the first 5 years. Mainly because no one on the board is paid a salary. Also, the wording for the makeup of the board sounds like it was written by children. "We need one doctor, one lawyer, one convict, one veteran, one teacher, one social worker, one person that likes to drink coffee and paint watercolors of flowers on Sundays, one cat, my hamster Rowdy..."

§ 2.2-2499.1. Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board; purpose; membership; quorum; meetings

The Board shall have a total membership of 20 members that shall consist of 13 nonlegislative citizen members and seven ex officio members. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed as follows: four to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, one of whom shall be a person who has been previously incarcerated or convicted of a marijuana-related crime, one of whom shall be an expert in the field of public health with experience in trauma-informed care, if possible, one of whom shall be an expert in education with a focus on access to opportunities for youth in underserved communities, and one of whom shall be an expert on Virginia's foster care system; four to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, one of whom shall be an expert in workforce development, one of whom shall be a representative from one of Virginia's historically black colleges and universities, one of whom shall be a veteran, and one of whom shall be an entrepreneur with expertise in emerging industries or access to capital for small businesses; and five to be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, one of whom shall be a representative from the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and four of whom shall be community-based providers or community development organization representatives who provide services to address the social determinants of health and promote community investment in communities adversely and disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibitions, including services such as workforce development, youth mentoring and educational services, job training and placement services, and reentry services. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be citizens of the Commonwealth and reflect the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the Commonwealth.

I'm 99.9% sure the fund is going to be audited and face legal challenges when people finally realize that "historically marginalized" does not include poor white people from SW VA that have been jailed for marijuana offenses.

§ 2.2-2499.3. Powers and duties of the Board.
The Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board shall have the following powers and duties:

1. Develop and implement scholarship programs and educational and vocational resources for historically marginalized youth, including youth in foster care, who have been adversely impacted by substance use individually, in their families, or in their communities.

2. Develop and implement a program to award grants to support workforce development programs, youth mentoring programs, job training and placement services, and reentry services that serve communities historically and disproportionately targeted by drug enforcement.

3. Administer the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund established pursuant to § 2.2-2499.4.

4. Collaborate with the Board of Directors of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as necessary to implement programs and provide recommendations in line with the purpose of this article.

5. Submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports. The chairman shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an annual executive summary of the interim activity and work of the Council no later than the first day of each regular session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall be submitted as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.

6. Perform such other activities and functions as the Governor and General Assembly may direct

Here is language about the Fund, which uses the same "historically marginalized" language as before.

§ 2.2-2499.4. Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund.

There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, referred to in this section as "the Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All funds appropriated for such purpose and any gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds received on its behalf shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purposes of:

1. Making whole again families and communities historically and disproportionately targeted and affected by drug enforcement;

2. Providing scholarships for the historically marginalized population of youth, particularly in underserved communities, who have been adversely impacted by substance abuse individually or within their families or communities, including the experience of incarceration of a family member convicted of a marijuana offense;

3. Awarding grants to support workforce development, youth mentoring programs, job training and placement efforts, and reentry services that serve persons residing in areas disproportionately impacted by drug enforcement;

4. Contributing to the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission established pursuant to § 19.2-163.01; and

5. Contributing to the Virginia Cannabis Equity Business Loan Fund established pursuant to § 4.1-1501.
Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

I don't have a problem with helping out poor black communities that have been affected by decades of discriminatory practices and situations, but I also think that the poor people in the Appalachias, who tend to be white, shouldn't have their current plight be overlooked. Which is why I'm not really down with this whole woke stuff. We can't change history, but we can change the present and we should strive to help all who disadvantaged, regardless of their skin color. But that's just my take.
 

pop_rocks

In my empire of dirt
420club
another great post man!
im sure your hamster rowdy would make a great board member and would not be open to bribes or influence
as you said, 1m is nothing to a large multi national company and i hope the smaller grower still has a voice in the new VA marijuana industry
good point about how there are a lot of marginalized people living in this region and i also agree that people are people, no matter what their color or ethnicity
/ie, poor is poor so why single out one group to help; why not help out all poor people live a better life?
again, thanks for being interested enough to post up brother and taking the time fer splain' things to us simpler folk
 

armedoldhippy

Well-known member
Veteran
one week to go. i liked the part about a $25 fine for possessing up to a lb, lol! oooh, i'm skeered! last article i read on it says home-growers may give weed (no more than an oz) to folks, but may not be paid. i'm sure that will be fucking impossible to enforce. plus, you can trade varieties like that, in case you get burnt out on what YOU are growing...
 
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