Lawmakers discussed, but were postponed until next year, a ruling that people currently serving prison sentences and drug-related prison sentences can ask a judge for a new conviction. Lawmakers who supported the bill called it an oversight and blamed the last-minute manner for the way the bill was crafted. Although the sale of the drug is illegal, legislation allows up to one ounce of the drug to be given to each adult. And lawmakers have emphasized that when they talk about gifts, they really mean gifts. The bill aims to explicitly ban the type of transactions that have become common in Washington, D.C., where the drug is also legal but sales are limited, causing dozens of companies to start selling legal products at high prices, which — regardless, they swear — come with a so-called free gift of marijuana. The bill`s sponsor, Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, said he didn`t have a good answer, but doubted many potential growers would manage to grow more than an ounce. The new website, cannabis.virginia.gov, is an information hub to answer any questions civilians may have about what will and will not. It also describes what aspects of the drug still need to be addressed in the coming years and how people interested in getting into business can get involved. Democrats countered that the time for legalization had simply come. The law allows people to grow up to four plants per household, as long as they are not visible from a public road and precautions are in place to prevent unauthorized access by minors — though the bill does not specify what those precautions should include. The Democrats who pushed the legislation through the General Assembly have focused on a regulatory agenda that will target licenses granted to minority communities facing disproportionate enforcement of drug laws during prohibition, though those details won`t be completed until next year.
“The fact that there have been multiple versions of the law that have come out, different stories and different aspects, people need to know what`s actually going to come into effect,” Del said. Marcia Price on 13News Now on Friday. Price was the boss of the House version of the marijuana legalization bill. But overall, Price and Morrissey say the tool is a useful resource for all Virginians, but not all questions can be answered until the state`s sales catch up with legalization. The final bill delayed almost all of its provisions until 2024, but Gov. Ralph Northam (D) sent the measure back to the legislature to speed up the legalization timeline following an outcry from activists. Other GOP lawmakers questioned the wisdom of dropping the earlier version of the bill, calling Northam`s amendments a “train accident.” No Republicans voted for the bill. Some had spoken in favour of the measure, but said they were opposed to the pro-union language inserted by Northam, although the change will not take effect unless it is approved again next year. Morrissey helped draft legislation to legalize marijuana, and even admits to him that some parts are confusing, as legalized sales are still years away. And Gastañaga said she believes the permission to grow four plants will trump the property line. “So if you`re growing in your home and you`re following home grow regulations, and you`re not in public, then I think the one-ounce limit doesn`t apply to what you have in your home,” she said. Second, the prospect of growing up to four plants is at odds with the one-ounce property limit.
As Senator Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, pointed out during a debate, a plant could easily produce multiples of that amount. With retail sales delayed until 2024, what does this mean for people carrying a legal amount of marijuana in a ziplock bag or other common container? But the law defines an open container as “any container containing marijuana other than the manufacturer`s originally sealed container.” For now, they have postponed decisions on what those rules might look like next year. Among the open questions is how licenses are distributed and to what extent local governments have a say in the location of pot businesses. Mercury journalist Graham Moomaw contributed to this report. Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, who was until recently executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, agrees. “This means that marijuana in any container other than a currently non-existent manufacturer container is considered to be in an open container now and in the future,” she said. A new cannabis control authority would be created in July 2021 to regulate the adult cannabis market. A five-member board of directors would issue by-laws; grant, suspend or revoke licences; and impose fines. “There have been so many twists and turns, so many euphemisms along the way, even I have to remember where we are,” Sen. Joe Morrissey told 13News Now, the Senate`s registered co-boss SB 1406.