Virginia’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market met Tuesday for the first time since Governor Abigail Spanberger vetoed a bill that would’ve created a legal marijuana market. And while emotions were high after the veto, lawmakers were hopeful a compromise could turn up in the state’s budget.
“There is a pathway to adopt a form of compromise," said Senator Lashrecse Aird, before Delegate Paul Krezik chimed in: "Yeah, a middle ground we think we can do.”
Both Democrats, they led the effort to create a new legal marijuana market in the Commonwealth. But Governor Spanberger came back with amendments, including increased criminal penalties and a later start date, that they did not agree with.
But at Tuesday’s meeting, both appeared open to compromises if the governor was as well.
“There is so much fear and hopelessness from the public and business owners that Virginia will continue to keep them in limbo," Aird said. "And we don’t under any circumstance plan to stop fighting to move this forward.”
Wesley McQuillen is with Alter Strategies, a Nevada-based operation that helps companies across the country navigate legal weed market regulation. He said states rarely get weed markets right the first time; Nevada was too regulated at the start, harming business efforts, while Oregon was too loose, with too many weed stores opening, cannibalizing the market.
He said Spanberger’s push to give more power to the state Cannabis Authority to regulate is good: “It leaves it easier to make changes on the fly.”
But after five years, he said something needs to change from the state’s existing grey weed market.
“Two dozen states worth of regulatory models to learn from," McQuillen said. "After all this time, at some point this delay stops being caution and is starting to look like policy failure.”
Lawmakers return to Richmond to finalize the budget, with or without a legal weed market included, later this month.
In a statement received after deadline a spokesperson for Spanberger didn't address the idea of a legal market in the state's budget, but said the governor "has made clear that she supports setting up a legal retail marketplace for cannabis that prioritizes the health and safety of Virginians, protects communities and consumers, and operates with clear enforcement and regulatory authority.”
