NORFOLK, Va. — A bill passed this week in the Virginia Senate could add regulations to the sale of hemp derived products, but opponents argue the bill goes too far.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed SB903 in a 25-15 vote sending the bill over to the House of Delegates for consideration.
The bill would add packaging, labeling, and testing requirements to the products, among other provisions.
The Virginia Hemp Coalition has come out against the bill, saying it could expand what's illegal to sell, forcing many products to be pulled from the shelves.
"It's going to have a lot of unintended consequences and we've warned everybody involved," said Jason Amatucci, the group's president.
The products were made federally legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, but some, like Delta 8 THC, can give users an intoxicating high, although supporters say the high is not as potent as regular marijuana.
The bill's patron, Sen. Emmett Hanger (R-Augusta County), has said the goal is to keep these products out of the hand of children. "We don't want to give children a high. If you're an adult and you want to get high, that's your business, but these products are a danger to our children," he said.
Last year, the Youngkin Administration began using a state food law to say Delta 8 edibles can't be sold and some stores did remove those products from their shelves.
"I think you should be able to go to any CBD shop and buy it," Dustin Weekley, co-owner of Bountifuel Utopia in Norfolk, told us in December. The shop stopped selling the products.
The Virginia Hemp Coalition supports adding in some regulations, but not in a heavy handed way.
"We as an industry want regulation, but very simple straight forward regulation on products," said Amatucci. "Parents need tomake sure that they keep these products away from their children, so we're not where we can legislate parental guidance."
The bill will now be voted on in the House of Delegates, where another bill adding regulations to hemp products already passed.