Hemp, marijuana advocates push back against Youngkin crackdown

Hemp advocates and civil rights activists pushed back Tuesday against a proposal by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to crack down on marijuana and popular edibles known as “Delta-8.” They say the proposal is an assault on farmers and businesses and harkens back to the decades-old “War on Drugs.”

Youngkin — three months into the job — made his proposal in the form of amendments to a piece of legislation that aims to restrict the potency of synthetic edibles made from hemp and sold in retail stores.

Youngkin proposed amendments to the bill to set the minimum age at 21 for buying CBD products, and would ban Delta-8 products starting in October.

The bill would create new criminal misdemeanor penalties for people with more than 2 ounces of marijuana, something a state oversight agency recommended last year. (Virginia legalized personal possession of up to an ounce of marijuana last year, with higher amounts up to a pound punishable by a $25 civil penalty).

While small amounts of marijuana are now legal in Virginia, people have to grow it themselves. House Republicans in February killed a proposal to kick start the sale of legal, recreational marijuana.

With regard to the unregulated synthetics, Youngkin said in a statement Monday that he wants to protect Virginians “from potentially harmful synthetically-modified substances.”

Jason Amatucci, president of the Virginia Hemp Coalition, said Tuesday he was blindsided by Monday night’s news because he and representatives had met with staffers for the governor in recent weeks and had no idea the amendments were coming.

He said the legislation as written would criminalize a large part of the CBD industry, while state officials promote beer, wine and cider and the state earns large profits selling liquor.

“It’s really kind of a punch in the gut,” Amatucci said. Youngkin is “supposedly for businesses. He’s supposedly for farmers. He’s supposedly for Virginians and their rights, but we’re not seeing it with this bill.”

He added that the bill as amended would criminalize all CBD products — including lotions — for anyone under 21 years of age.

“All ages can tolerate CBD and hemp extract products,” he said in an email.

“They are non-intoxicating and non toxic to the human body at any age.”

The association issued a statement saying there would be a unified response before the legislature considers the measures on April 27.

“How many Virginians will be sent to jail and prison over this suggested law and who pays for that?” the statement said.

“And now we are expecting law enforcement to take time and precious resources from fighting real crime to be bogged down enforcing these misguided policies?”

A coalition of groups called the Joint CannaJustice Coalition said Youngkin’s proposal would ”re-activate the criminalization of marijuana” and “stops people from accessing housing, increases chances of deportation, and blocks student loan opportunities. These are the same burdens built by the War on Drugs to target Black communities.”

Studies have shown that criminal enforcement of marijuana is disproportionately focused on people of color.

“Criminalization is a public health issue and legislators should vote to keep us healthy and safe instead of pointing us towards courts, jails and prisons, all for weed,” said Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of the group Marijuana Justice.

The marijuana reform group Virginia NORML, which viewed the bill before the governor’s amendments as a consumer safety bill, tweeted opposition to the new version:

“Instead of creating new ways to criminalize Virginians for a legal substance, Governor Youngkin’s administration ought to focus on establishing the retail market for adult-use cannabis, ensuring that products are safe, convenient, and affordable.”

Sheba Williams, executive director of the group Nolef Turns, weighed in against the proposals for similar reasons and said she hoped there would be bipartisan opposition.

The hemp coalition’s Amatucci said he thinks the proposal is in conflict with federal law that protects hemp products, and the state law would face legal challenge if it’s passed.

“The industry will not give up,” he said.

John Minott, 37, a Richmond musician who supports legal marijuana use as a way for people to be calm and to reduce their anxiety, recalled on Tuesday a time when people could be in a lot of trouble for simply having paraphernalia.

“I come from a time in life where you could get five years for a gram, where you could get locked up for just having a grinder,” said Minott, who visited a Delta-8 store called THE Dispensary in Richmond on Tuesday.