Possession of up to one ounce is now just a $25 fine, and medical dispensaries should open later this year.

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Virginia is kicking ass today. Finally, the state is taking steps to dismantle its archaic, prohibitionist cannabis laws. As of July 1, 2020, Virginians busted with up to an ounce of weed will only have to pay a $25 fine, with no risk of jail time, drivers’ license suspension, or a permanent criminal record.

Back in April, Governor Ralph Northam signed two identical bills decriminalizing minor cannabis possession in the commonwealth. Now, possession of up to an ounce of weed will be considered a civil violation rather than a misdemeanor offense. Under the previous law, anyone busted for weed would have the offense permanently added to their criminal record and could be fined $500, jailed for 30 days, or have their drivers’ license suspended. Moving forward, the only punishment for minor pot possession is a simple $25 fine.

“Virginia’s approach to cannabis hasn’t been working for far too long, needlessly saddling Virginians, especially Black Virginians and people of color, with criminal records,” said State Attorney General Mark Herring, who is running for governor next year, in a statement. “Those days are now behind us. With this historic legislation, we are making Virginia a more just, fair, equal and progressive place.”

“NORML is proud to have worked alongside Senator Ebbin and Delegate Herring, both longtime champions of evidence-based cannabis policy, to bring about these needed changes to Virginia law,” said Virginia NORML executive director Jenn Michelle Pedini in a statement. “Virginians have long opposed the criminalization of personal marijuana possession, and the enactment of this legislation turns that public opinion into public policy.”

The decriminalization law also requires the state government to conduct an official study on the viability of legalizing a taxed and regulated adult-use cannabis market by November 30. Gov. Northam proposed an amendment to the bill that would have extended the deadline until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but lawmakers rejected the amendment. Nov. 30 is now the hard deadline.

While cannabis activists are stoked on the passage of this new law, they’re keeping their fingers crossed that it’s a step towards full legalization. “While we applaud Governor Northam, his administration, and the legislature for taking this important first step, it’s critical the legislature work swiftly to legalize and regulate the responsible use of cannabis by adults,” said Pedini. 

“For too long, young people, poor people, and people of color have disproportionately been impacted by cannabis criminalization, and lawmakers must take immediate steps to right these past wrongs and to undo the damage that prohibition has waged upon hundreds of thousands of Virginians.”

In addition to cannabis decriminalization, a number of other progressive bills became law today. Several restrictions on gun ownership, including a law requiring background checks on all gun sales and another prohibiting Virginians from buying more than one handgun a month, took effect today. Gov. Northam also signed bills to remove abortion restrictions, create new protections for LGBTQ+ people, increase voting access, and to eventually increase the minimum wage to $15.

Medical cannabis patients in Arkansas spend around $500,000 a day on legal weed, according to a new report from the state Department of Finance and Administration.

On May 10, 2019, Arkansas’ first dispensary – Suite 443 in Hot Springs – opened its doors for business. From that day until June 25, 2020, the state’s medicinal pot industry has sold 15,838 pounds of weed, amounting to $99.16 million in gross sales. According to the report, the state’s 22 active dispensaries are now selling around half a million dollars’ worth of weed every single day. 

Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Medical Marijuana Commission (MMC), told local news outlet KNWA/KFTA that the total sales figure is “now certainly more than $100 million” as of this week, thanks to these steady daily sales. About a third of the total sales have come from Northwest Arkansas, where dispensaries have moved 4,938 pounds of weed since last August.

Arkansas’ medical marijuana program is finally reaching maturity after a rocky start. A small majority of voters legalized medicinal pot by way of a ballot measure in 2016, but it took years to get the program running. At first, it seemed like businesses were afraid to even submit applications for legal weed licenses. But the program eventually got rolling and product finally became available last spring.

Over the past year, as more dispensaries opened, sales began climbing steadily. Within six months, dispensaries sold $21 million worth of weed, outpacing Illinois’ medical cannabis sales. Four months later, the state doubled its sales to $40 million. And just three months after that, sales have more than doubled, breaking the $100 million point. As of last week, there are nearly 64,000 patients enrolled in the program.

This week, the MMC met to discuss expanding the program even further. The voter-approved medical marijuana law allows for a total of 30 dispensaries and five cultivators, but the state had only issued 23 of the dispensary licenses and three of the cultivation licenses to date. At the meeting, the commission approved the final two cultivation licenses with a narrow 2-2 vote. Four of the remaining seven dispensary licenses were also approved at the meeting.

Regulators hope that these new businesses will increase the availability of legal product, which will decrease the cost of medicinal pot. “Ultimately the patient is the winner, because the patient has more access to product,” said Hardin to FOX16 News. The commissioner added that he expects that the increased access to lower-priced product will allow the industry to easily double its first-year sales record.

“We did 100 million in the first year and I think we will do well over 200 million in the second year,” Hardin explained.

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