Changes in Virginia marijuana laws take effect July 1

RICHMOND, Va. (WDBJ) – New legal guidelines take impact July 1 in Virginia, and certainly one of them will make it simpler for folks to buy medical marijuana.

Present legislation requires a medical hashish card issued by the Virginia Board of Pharmacy, however beginning Friday, sufferers will solely want a written certification from a registered practitioner.

“It’s an enormous win for the sufferers of the Commonwealth, which can actually assist drive the medical hashish trade in Virginia,” mentioned Trent Woloveck, Chief Business Director at Jushi, one of many corporations that’s approved to develop, course of and retail medical marijuana within the state.

In an interview with WDBJ7, Woloveck mentioned the present course of has created a backlog of functions

“That course of to get that card again was taking upwards of 5 to six months, when your registration out of your practitioner solely lasted 12 months, so it was actually the bottleneck within the course of.”

Hearings through the Normal Meeting produced little or no opposition to the change.

JM Pedini is with NORML, the Nationwide Group for the Reform of Marijuana Legal guidelines.

“We hear from dozens of sufferers every week who’re attempting to navigate the registration course of, so this can be a large enchancment and can make the method a lot simpler for these trying to entry medical hashish in Virginia,” Pedini mentioned Thursday afternoon.

July 1 will carry a one other change in Virginia legislation that marijuana advocates weren’t joyful to see.

Public possession of greater than 4 ounces of marijuana will now be topic to a felony misdemeanor. Within the case of edible merchandise, 4 ounces may symbolize a comparatively small quantity.

“Virginians can shortly run afoul of this new legislation by possessing edibles in public,” Pedini mentioned, “so our recommendation is go away the edibles at house.”

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