The governor of Virginia on Monday signed legislation aimed at easing access to the Commonwealth’s medical cannabis program.

Glenn Youngkin, the first-term Republican who took office earlier this year, signed a pair of bills, each identical to one another, that remove a requirement for patients to register with the Virginia Board of Pharmacy after receiving a certification from a medical provider. 

JM Pedini, NORML’s Development Director and the Executive Director of Virginia NORML, said that the new law will bring relief to patients in Virginia who have been frustrated by the delays accompanied by the registration with the Board of Pharmacy.

“These legislative improvements will bring great relief to the thousands of Virginians waiting to access the medical cannabis program,” said Pedini. “We hear from dozens of Virginians each week who are struggling with the registration process and frustrated by the 60-day wait to receive their approval from the Board of Pharmacy.” 

The new law “maintains the requirement that patients obtain written certification from a health care provider for medical cannabis,” but the elimination of the step involving the Board of Pharmacy should improve efficiency and access for thousands of medical cannabis patients in Virginia. 

According to NORML, Virginia has “currently over 47,000 [medical cannabis program] registrants, with an estimated 8,000 applicants still awaiting approval.”

Additionally, the measure “amends the definition of ‘cannabis oil’ by removing the requirement that only oil from industrial hemp be used in the formulation of cannabis oil.”

The medical cannabis legislation was among 700 bills signed into law by Youngkin, his office said Monday, adding that the governor took action “on a total of 841 bills sent to his desk during the 2022 General Assembly session.”

“Today marks another important step in a journey for the people of Virginia, one which started even before our nation’s founding. Every year the duly elected representatives of the people assemble to pass new laws on behalf of their constituencies, and I am honored to sign these 700 bills into law this year,” Youngkin said in a statement on Monday, 

“These bills are all bipartisan, and we can all be proud that together we’ve taken steps to make life easier for Virginians, make our Commonwealth’s economy more competitive, support law enforcement, protect the most vulnerable among us, increase access to health care, and take necessary steps toward making Virginia’s schools the absolute best in the nation.”

Youngkin’s first year in office marks the start of a new era for cannabis policy in Virginia, which became the first state in the southern United States to legalize recreational pot use for adults last year. 

But legalization arrived under different political circumstances in Virginia, with the bill passed by a Democratic-controlled General Assembly and signed into law by a Democratic governor, Ralph Northam.

Now, Youngkin has succeeded Northam, who was term-limited, and Republicans have re-claimed control of one chamber of the General Assembly.

That shifted landscape has brought uncertainty to the new cannabis law, particularly as it pertains to commercialization.

Youngkin said prior to taking office that he “will not seek to overturn the law on personal possession,” but he wavered on the matter of retail cannabis sales.

“When it comes to commercialization, I think there is a lot of work to be done. I’m not against it, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” Youngkin said. “There are some nonstarters, including the forced unionization that’s in the current bill. There have been concerns expressed by law enforcement in how the gap in the laws can actually be enforced. Finally, there’s a real need to make sure that we aren’t promoting an anti-competitive industry. I do understand that there are preferences to make sure that all participants in the industry are qualified to do the industry well.”

Earlier this year, the Democratic-controlled state Senate passed a bill to have cannabis sales begin in September, but the measure went nowhere in the GOP-led House of Delegates. 

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Virginia adult-use cannabis law isn’t even a year old, but changes are likely afoot. 

Much has changed in the commonwealth since then-Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill making Virginia the first state in the south to legalize recreational cannabis. 

Virginia Republicans now control one-half of the legislature, and have one of their own in the governor’s mansion. As such, GOP lawmakers there have “drafted bills that would move up the start date for retail sales and get rid of a provision that would give licensing preference to people who’ve been convicted of marijuana crimes,” according to the Associated Press.

The AP said that they have “filed at least eight bills that call for amendments to the law that legalized adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and laid the groundwork for retail sales to begin in 2024.”

What that will ultimately mean for the new cannabis law remains unclear. But Republicans, including newly sworn in GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin, have thus far said that they do not intend to undo legalization––despite most of the party being opposed to the effort to end the prohibition on pot last year. 

In an interview published last month, Youngkin said point-blank that he “will not seek to overturn the law on personal possession,” but he expressed less certainty about the regulation of cannabis sales.

“When it comes to commercialization, I think there is a lot of work to be done. I’m not against it, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” Youngkin told Virginia Business. “There are some nonstarters, including the forced unionization that’s in the current bill. There have been concerns expressed by law enforcement in how the gap in the laws can actually be enforced. Finally, there’s a real need to make sure that we aren’t promoting an anti-competitive industry. I do understand that there are preferences to make sure that all participants in the industry are qualified to do the industry well.”

Northam signed the measure into law last spring and, since July 1, 2021, it has been legal for Virginia adults aged 21 and older to possess as much as an ounce of weed. But pot sales remain illegal under the law, and the newly created Cannabis Control Authority, the regulatory agency overseeing Virginia’s new cannabis industry, has said that legal sales will not begin before 2024.

The new cannabis law also included social justice provisions, with an aim toward expunging and re-sentencing previous low-level marijuana convictions.

“What this really means is that people will no longer be arrested or face penalties for simple possession that follow them and affect their lives,” Northam said after signing the bill into law last year. “We know that marijuana laws in Virginia and throughout this country have been disproportionately enforced against communities of color and low-income Virginians.”

But that, too, is an area where Republicans and Democrats in Virginia are at odds.

The Virginia Mercury reported last month that a committee composed of state Senators and House members began making recommendations to other lawmakers on a proposal to begin marijuana sales earlier than 2024. However, those committee members were unable to agree on re-sentencing for marijuana convictions, because they ran out of time.

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that some of the bills offered up “focus on the resentencing process for marijuana-related offenses and record expungement.”

One bill introduced by a GOP member of the House of Delegates would nix “a provision that would give licensing preference to applicants who were convicted or related to someone who was convicted of a marijuana-related crime,” while maintaining “other portions of the social equity provision, such as giving preference to applicants who live in communities disproportionately impacted by drug law enforcement, or who graduated from a historically Black college or university in the commonwealth.”

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Virginia made history last year when it became the first state in the South to legalize recreational pot, but that came at a time when Democrats controlled the state government.

Now, with Republican Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin set to take office in less than two weeks and the GOP ready to assume control of one-half of the general assembly, the state of legalization in the commonwealth looks a bit hazier than it did nine months ago.

But in a new interview, Youngkin says he isn’t going to pull the plug on the new law entirely.

“I will not seek to overturn the law on personal possession,” Youngkin said in an interview with Virginia Business that was published on Friday.

When it comes to setting up a new marijuana market, however, the incoming governor is less sure.

“When it comes to commercialization, I think there is a lot of work to be done. I’m not against it, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” Youngkin said in the interview. “There are some nonstarters, including the forced unionization that’s in the current bill. There have been concerns expressed by law enforcement in how the gap in the laws can actually be enforced. Finally, there’s a real need to make sure that we aren’t promoting an anti-competitive industry. I do understand that there are preferences to make sure that all participants in the industry are qualified to do the industry well.”

In April of last year, Virginia’s outgoing governor, the Democrat Ralph Northam, signed a bill into law legalizing possession of cannabis for adults aged 21 and older. The legislation passed the Democratic-controlled General Assembly weeks before, making it legal to possess up to an ounce of pot as of July 1, 2021. 

“What this really means is that people will no longer be arrested or face penalties for simple possession that follow them and affect their lives,” Northam said at the time. “We know that marijuana laws in Virginia and throughout this country have been disproportionately enforced against communities of color and low-income Virginians.”

The law also established a framework to set up a market for cannabis cultivation and sales, although such businesses were likely years away from opening their doors to customers. 

Northam’s administration has said that the newly created Cannabis Control Authority, authorized under the new law to regulate Virginia’s marijuana industry, “will work to create a fair and equitable regulatory structure and provide critical guidance to the CCA’s staff as they work to develop a workforce, establish regulations and ensure that marijuana legalization accomplishes the health, safety and equity goals established by law.”

According to the CCA, it “will not be legal to sell marijuana before 2024,” and that “it remains a crime to sell any amount of marijuana” until then.

“If the licensing provisions of the bill are reenacted (approved again) in the 2022 General Assembly session, you will likely be able to apply for a marijuana business license in 2023,” the agency says on its website.

Youngkin’s comments may cast doubt on the prospects of commercialization. In November, he defeated the Democrat Terry McAuliffe to become the next governor, while Republicans re-claimed control of the House of Delegates. (Democrats still maintain a slim majority in the Senate.)

In his interview with Virginia Business, Youngkin, who will be sworn in as governor on January 15, spoke positively of some of the opportunities presented by legal weed sales.

“I am all for opportunities for minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses [and] military-owned businesses,” Youngkin said. “We also have to make sure that they have the capabilities to compete and thrive in the industry. So, I think there’s work to be done. All of that will be on the table. Again, I don’t look to overturn the bill, but I think we need to make sure that it works.”

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