Bill would let medical cannabis, hemp firms jump-start recreational market – Richmond BizSense

Adam Ebbin, would set the stage for the state’s existing medical cannabis operators and a small crop of the existing hemp processors to begin selling recreational marijuana Jan.

The bill would be restricted to those that have been registered with the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services before March 31, 2021 and have processed at least 40,000 pounds of hemp.

Those revenue streams would flow to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to fund incubator programs that would require the chosen operators to help support the launch of smaller, independent retailers that could hit the ground running once the market is fully open.

“Medical processors are only going to be able to absorb maybe 5 to 10 percent, that’s probably on the high end, of the market.

Keith Hodges and Mark Sickles, would both set the stage for medical operators to sell recreational marijuana starting July 1 but neither would extend that ability to hemp processors.

Jack joined BizSense in 2020, covering startups, retail, healthcare, public companies and nonprofits.

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