Legislators have nipped Virginia’s budding cannabis industry, advocates say

Despite commitments from both major parties to improve on and regulate the marijuana industry, cannabis advocates say the General Assembly has left a flourishing industry in the weeds. 

Jacob Williamson grows, makes, and sells hemp-based CBD products through his family’s Hens and Hemp farm. He went through the permitting process to be a hemp farmer when it became legal in 2019, but now he is leaving the industry.

“We can’t keep up with the multimillion-dollar cannabis industry coming into the state,” Williamson said.

“So, we’re just gonna stop because it’s too much.”