Since then, Waller began growing and processing industrial hemp in Halifax County on a farm she took over from her father. And after recreational marijuana was legalized in Virginia last year, she’s hoping for a second chance to get into the nascentBut as Virginia lawmakers this year work to create the recreational marijuana market, Waller, who is Black, said she’s concerned that she and other minority farmers will be shut out.
But as the session pressed on, the House did not make any progress on their own proposed bills, never docketing the bills for committee and letting them die. Instead, House leadership has indicated Blanchette and others in the hemp industry argued that three of the four current medicinal licenses were awarded to out-of-state companies, whereas giving licenses to hemp processors in the state would support Virginia-based business.
But if transitional sales open only to the established pharmaceutical and large-hemp processors, social equity advocates worry the state’s social equity program will be “too little, too late.”of organizations advocating for a more equitable cannabis industry read: “Early and exclusive market capture by a handful of large companies have consistently undermined efforts to create an equitable and diverse industry supported by small local businesses.
So they’re whining about that too? Lol who cares.