Governor Glen Youngkin (R – Virginia) has amended a hotly-debated hemp regulation bill to allow for the use of therapeutic products some Virginia families rely on for medical reasons.

Some in the Virginia hemp industry see the changes as a positive, but still think the legislation will harm local hemp farmers and producers.

For eight years, Lisa Smith’s daughter Haley has relied on CBD oil from out of state to control debilitating seizures caused by Dravet Syndrome.

The hemp regulation bill that passed the Virginia General Assembly threatened the Smith family’s access to the oil

The hemp bill aimed to crack down on the sale of unregulated synthetic THC products, like Delta-8 and others, that produce a similar high to marijuana, according to the bill’s backers.

Those unregulated synthetic products have been blamed for a rash of poisonings in Virginia children who mistakenly ingest the products, some of which look like gummies or candy.

The bills as passed by the legislature would cap the amount THC included in hemp-derived products at two milligrams. THC and CBD are naturally occurring in hemp, but the levels of THC are low, and CBD is not intoxicating.

Amendments handed down by the Governor would allow for products to contain more than the two milligrams per package limit if the amount of CBD in the product is greater than the level of THC by a ratio of 25 to 1.

The bottle the Smiths receive from Colorado would fall within that 25:1 threshold.

“Nice to know that you were heard,” Smith said. “I’m totally behind [regulating synthetic THC products], but I don’t want my child harmed in the same process.”

https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/virginia-hemp-law-changes-march-29-2023

source