Newly empowered Republican lawmakers in Virginia who opposed legalizing simple possession of marijuana say they don’t want to scrap the law, but they do want to make significant changes.
Those changes could include moving up the start date for retail sales and getting rid of a provision that would give licensing preference to people who have been convicted of marijuana crimes.
Republicans have filed at least eight bills that call for amendments to the 2021 law that legalized adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and laid the ground work for retail sales to begin in 2024.
“The overriding top-tier concern is that we have to have a regulatory structure in place for retail sales that does not encourage the black market,” said Garren Shipley, a spokesperson for House Speaker Todd Gilbert.
The law was passed along strict party lines, with Democrats supporting legalization and Republicans voting against it. At the time, Democrats controlled both the House and Senate Republicans took control of the House in the November election, winning a 52-48 majority over Democrats. Democrats still hold a slight 21-19 majority in the Senate.
A reenactment clause in the law requires the legislature to vote again this year on a complex regulatory structure for retail sales, leaving open the possibility Republicans could push through changes in how the licensing process will work, who will be given an advantage when applying for licenses and how tax revenue from marijuana sales will be…
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Newly empowered Republican lawmakers in Virginia who opposed legalizing simple possession of marijuana say they don’t want to scrap the law, but they do want to make significant changes.
Those changes could include moving up the start date for retail sales and getting rid of a provision that would give licensing preference to people who have been convicted of marijuana crimes.
Republicans have filed at least eight bills that call for amendments to the 2021 law that legalized adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and laid the ground work for retail sales to begin in 2024.
“The overriding top-tier concern is that we have to have a regulatory structure in place for retail sales that does not encourage the black market,” said Garren Shipley, a spokesperson for House Speaker Todd Gilbert.
The law was passed along strict party lines, with Democrats supporting legalization and Republicans voting against it. At the time, Democrats controlled both the House and Senate Republicans took control of the House in the November election, winning a 52-48 majority over Democrats. Democrats still hold a slight 21-19 majority in the Senate.
A reenactment clause in the law requires the legislature to vote again this year on a complex regulatory structure for retail sales, leaving open the possibility Republicans could push through changes in how the licensing process will work, who will be given an advantage when applying for licenses and how tax revenue from marijuana sales will be…
