US State's Hemp Farmers And Retailers Fear Fallout From New Marijuana Legalization Law

A legal cannabis market is scheduled to launch in Virginia next July under the newly finalized state budget, but Manassas hemp retailer Barbara Biddle has already told her landlord she's closing one of her two District Hemp Botanicals shops. Her stores sell CBD- and THC-infused creams, bath salts, drinks and gummies. CBD (cannabidiol) doesn't cause intoxication; THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) does, and both are marketed for easing pain, stress and anxiety, with THC beverages popular as alcohol alternatives. Federal hemp rules are also shifting: after the 2018 Farm Bill allowed hemp products with up to 0.3% THC, Congress reversed course late last year, and many products become illegal in November. Some federal lawmakers were pushing measures as of late June to help the industry. "There's so much in flux," Biddle said. She noted a new baby and business factors also drove her store closure, though legal uncertainty didn't help. Caroline County farmer Graham Redfern says much of his crop will be unsellable by fall. "Cannabis, which hemp is, will produce cannabinoids," he said this spring, surveying his fields. "It's about impossible to create any industry in the industrial hemp world without taking the plant to maturity, which will then create cannabinoids, which will then now be marijuana." Virginia legalized medical marijuana by prescription in 2018 and has since worked toward recreational sales. After a spike in poison control calls from children eating edibles and people overconsuming, 2023's Senate Bill 903 tightened state hemp rules beyond federal standards, requiring child-safe packaging, third-party lab testing, reformulation, and a ratio of 25 parts CBD to one part THC. Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Henrico, a patron of the new legalization measure, said "closing the 25-to-1 loophole does not prevent farmers from continuing to grow industrial hemp or produce hemp products that comply with Virginia's 2 milligram THC limit," adding it targets "a loophole that has allowed intoxicating products to be marketed and sold as cannabis outside of a robust regulatory framework that protects consumers." Biddle objects to being called unregulated given years of compliance. Redfern argues lawmakers are rewriting rules "to clearly favor Wall Street corporations over Virginia farmers and small businesses," citing the established medical marijuana industry's political donations. He says he'd been in contact with legislators and the governor and felt reassured until recently: "We are left with zero pathway and will not survive until July 2027 without a grace period." The budget deal followed a months-long standoff between the legislature and Governor Glenn Youngkin over data center tax provisions ahead of a July 1 deadline to avoid a shutdown; lawmakers sent their agreement to the governor last week and convened Monday to approve her amendments.