It’s legal to possess small amounts of marijuana in Virginia, although no one has a license to sell it. That's created a booming industry of unregulated products – and worried lawmakers.
If you've been in a corner store or a bodega or a smoke shop, you've probably seen them -- unregulated products that kind of look like they might have marijuana in them. But members of the General Assembly say nobody knows what's in these products, and that's a problem. One of the people they're hearing from is Chesterfield County Sheriff Karl Leonard.
"These products aren't supposed to be packaged in a way that's appealing to children," Leonard says. "But I can tell you that's exactly what they're targeting in the way they package these products to resemble the candy of choice that kids go after these days, intentionally targeting our youth, our kids."
The General Assembly is considering a bill to create a new work group to combat the sale of illegal cannabis products and develop recommendations for the future.
"Consumers deserve to know exactly what is in the product that they’re buying and unfortunately what's on the label today is rarely what's inside the package," says J.M. Pedini at the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. "This legislation is not about criminalizing consumers. It's not about penalizing small businesses. It's about finding solutions that protect the health and safety of all consumers."
The bill creating the new work group has bipartisan support, and advocates say they’re hopeful they'll get the governor's signature.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
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