Virginia legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana in July of 2021, but selling or buying the drug remains illegal except through medical dispensaries operated by large out-of-state corporations. The state does not regulate products that contain cannabis, and colorful packaging of look-alike sweets has led children to ingest them. Jason Amatucci is Founder and President of the Virginia Hemp Coalition and a vocal critic of elected officials who refuse to establish a regulated marketplace for cannabis.
“When you legalize the plant and then there’s no market for people to buy retail, what did they think was going to happen?" he asks. "We can go arrest and fill up the jails with everybody that wants to buy cannabis or anybody who wants to sell it. The majority of people disagree with that.”
He notes other states are raising huge amounts of tax revenue by regulating recreational drug sales. Maryland, for example, took in nearly $30 million this year, and Amatucci is furious over Louisa County’s decision to confiscate over $430,000 and to prosecute Dawn Morris who set-up a chain of stores in Charlottesville called Higher Education.
“Most jurisdictions realize this isn’t our top priority. We actually have crimes with victims. We already have a market. We already have consumers, and not having a regulated market for these products has caused all the problems.”
Louisa’s commonwealth’s attorney could not be reached for comment, but when Morris was convicted, Rusty McGuire issued a statement. “We hope this case sends a strong message to drug dealers that if you pedal your poison in Louisa, you will lose your drugs, money and freedom.”
