Charlottesville Virginia is no stranger to cannabis. On the Downtown Mall alone, there are no less than five stores who wanted in on the retail market for hemp products — cannabinoids that are typically less potent than the still-illegal recreational marijuana but nevertheless intoxicating.
But starting Saturday, new amendments to Virginia’s industrial hemp laws will prohibit the sale of certain hemp-derived products, and restrict the sale of others.
The legislation has business owners pulling products off shelves and trying to sell them back to distributors, who may or may not buy them back. The bottom line for cannabis retailers? It’s going to cost them.
“We’re basically here to stay, but we’re in for a long fight, tooth and nail,” said Derek Crowther, co-owner of the Hidden Leaf, a cannabis retailer on the Downtown Mall. “It’s going to be a financial hurdle.”
Virginia’s new legislation
The new legislation prohibits the sale of products containing a synthetic derivative of THC, which include delta-8 and delta-10 THC products. It also restricts the sale of delta-9 THC, which is “naturally” derived from hemp. Retailers may not sell products with more than 2 mg of total THC per package, unless the product contains a ratio of 25 parts CBD to one part THC.
The legislation will be enforced by the Virginia Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services, and retailers out of compliance with the law could face hefty fines.
The legislation’s intent was to “close loopholes” that existed in the Virginia Code which were permitting the sale of synthetic cannabinoids and unregulated THC, according to JM Pedini, executive director of Virginia’s chapter at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
“As originally passed, Virginia hemp laws were unintentionally allowing the sale of unregulated intoxicating products,” Pedini told The Daily Progress.
That includes products that may contain harmful chemicals, and hemp products containing high doses of THC, federally illegal but allowed by unspecific language in Virginia code.
Navigating new hemp legislation
Most immediately, businesses will have to pull delta-8 products and those outside of the designated ratio off shelves. For Skooma, a boutique dispensary on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, that’s the cherry-flavored delta-9 gummies, a “popular” item with 10 mg THC per 50 mg CBD: a prohibited 1-to-5 ratio.
Tracy Riffel, owner of Sweet ReLeaf in downtown Charlottesville, has been able to sell back some of her products to distributors, she has to look for new companies to buy from, whose products align with Virginia legislation.
“I’m kind of freaking out about it because it’s such a huge change,” Riffel said. “There are so many companies that I use that are not changing with the Virginia laws.” Instead, Riffel is looking at other companies with products that fit the regulation, and in the meantime expanding her inventory to include crystals, tapestries and incense.
But business owners aren’t just frustrated. They’re confused.
Business owners described parts of the legislation which give increased testing and labeling requirements “vague.” Some are considering consulting with attorneys as they attempt to figure out what is actually necessary to avoid a fine.
“I think we’ve found a way to work with it based on their verbiage to be able to continue to sell, but it really is so overwhelmingly restrictive,” Kenneth Townsend, manager at Skooma, told The Daily Progress.
The new legislation might also fan the flames of an already-existing illicit market for cannabinoids, said Brad Wynne, an executive board member at the Virginia Cannabis Association.
“I think the black market is going to really explode. It’s the kerosene, and this bill’s the match,” Wynne said. “What do you think is going to happen? People want it. People are gonna get it.” As to where, Wynne mentioned pop-up shops or “farmers market.”
Others in the industry are upset about the ban on “synthetic” cannabis in the first place. Although delta-8 THC and delta-10 THC naturally occur in hemp plants in very small amounts, the form of delta-8 THC used in adult-use retail products is synthesized from CBD.
“Delta-8 is naturally occurring, delta 10 can be naturally occurring. They’re in small amounts, so they also can be converted from CBD through a simple process that doesn’t have to be scary,” said Jason Amatucci, president of the Virginia Hemp Coalition and founder of Anavii Market, a CBD and hemp retailer.
“There’s a lot of synthetic products that we consume every day,” Amatucci said. “I mean, margarine is synthetic under these definitions.”
What Amatucci would like to see is “simple regulation” to eliminate harmful chemicals in hemp products and crack down on companies that are “cutting corners,” he said.
What’s next?
Retailers share the same hope: that the sale of recreational marijuana will be made legal.
“I’m hoping that they just make marijuana legal and quit messing with the cannabinoids,” Riffel said.
The General Assembly passed a bill in 2021 which intended to make marijuana legal for recreational retail sale by 2024. Yet a clause in the legislation withholds legalization until the General Assembly passes legislation regulating recreational sales, which has so far been unsuccessful for one main reason: Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s veto.
Wynne said the Virginia Cannabis Association is currently working on a bill to bring both Democrats and Republicans together on cannabis legislation that might gather enough support from the General Assembly to overturn a veto from the governor.
“Virginians overwhelmingly support legalization, and the Youngkin administration should, too,” Pedini said. “It is through commonsense regulation allowing for the legal, licensed commercial production and sale of cannabis that states can best address adult consumers’ demand, while ensuring product safety and keeping marijuana largely out of the hands of young people.”
