Opposed any Bill that allows citizens to smoke weed, cannabis, marijuana. Shameful policies by government officials who don’t care about people. https://www.foxnews.com/health/daily-weed-smokers-higher-risk-heart-attack-stroke-american-heart-association-study

OPPOSE: PLEASE GO TO PAGE 9 AND READ THE LAST COMMENT. PLEASE GO TO PAGE 27 AND READ THE THIRD COMMENT. LINK: Please go to https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/henrico/Board.nsf/Public https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/henrico/Board.nsf/files/D3CJHX4D404E/$file/Written%20Comments%203-14-24.pdf

OPPOSE THE BILLS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH MARIJUANA USE-RECREATIONAL USE. WHY ARE DEMOCRATS PROGRESSIVES AND SOME REPUBLICANS WANTING TO DESTROY VIRGINIA? Oregon switches up on drug leniency amid overdose surge: The ‘experiment’ is over: https://youtu.be/FN1DSR4vRgI?si=xeuBM_MpxmyDbCJx

OPPOSE IT: Why are being disrespectful to law abiding Virginians who do not want to have drugs around our neighborhoods, communities, parks, grocery stores, shops, schools, and institutions. It will create problems because you just need to look at Illinois, Cali, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New York, and others. Many people do not want to have a toxic and drug induce society where crime and gangs can occur. Would you like this next door to your home? I bet not. I truly believe you do not care about our young children and mental health. You want to make money. Video link:https://www.foxnews.com/video/6319888847112

Strongly Oppose this Bill and SB448 ! Both Representatives of these Bills should be ashamed of themselves and whoever votes for it. If you think this will curb crime, violence, car accidents, theft, you are wrong! This bill will be a disaster for Virginians. Just look at California, Oregon, Colorado, Illinois and others. Encourage recreational drug use is pathetic as leaders. Why would anyone with decent values, integrity vote for this bill?

How is outdoor sungrown bad ? I just won 1st place in an outdoor grow competition and all I used was water to feed . Zero pesticides, zero chemicals with jadam and knf farming practices. Research a couple videos on the soil food web or regenerative farming especially when it comes to permaculture. The outdoor sun is what keeps us thriving and we need as much of it as we can get here in Virginia . Please look out for the small home growers that down want to waste hard earned money on corporate mid grade material.

I DO NOT support this bill. This bill would monopolize the Virginia Cannabis market and only put money into big business. This bill fails to include Virginia Farmers and home growers. This bill takes away everything farmers having been fighting for. This bill keeps farmers from benefiting from the free cannabis market. Big corporations with money should not have any advantage over the every day farmer. There should be no barriers to entry. We are talking about a dam PLANT. This bill would put no money back into economy of Virginia. Virginia farmers can grow some of the best cannabis in America , we just have to give them an opportunity to use the sun and their land, The sun is not evil , big corporations are.

HB698 is a bill that would be detrimental to small businesses hoping to enter the Recreational Cannabis Market. The ban on outdoor cultivation poses a major barrier to entry for small business that don’t have deep pockets or access to large sums of capital. The early access program seems great until you start running the numbers and realize that even with a $400,000 grant most businesses will not be able to afford the buildout of an indoor facility and a dispensary. For instance to purchase enough grow lights for a 10,000 sqft ft canopy would cost over $150,000 and that does not include the electrical infrastructure that needs to be in place to operate the lights. To operate a grow space that large the energy cost for the lights alone (not including any environmental controls) would run around $18,750 per month. On top of lights, environmental controls will be needed such as sufficient dehumidification, heat, A/C, air purifier, humidifiers, freezer, dry room, and fans. For cultivation, soil, fertilizer, containers, etc. These are just some of the things required for an indoor facility and that total is already well about $250,000 not including the monthly costs to operate and labor costs associated with cultivation and the buildout. On top of all of this, a Lincesee will need to either own a very large indoor space or will need to lease warehouse space which can easily add over $10,000 per month. As you can see the $400,000 is quickly diminished before operations at that facility even begin which leaves businesses with minimal capital to sustain operations from July 2024-Jan 1 2025. On top of the cultivation facility early access participants will also need to open a dispensary. My wife is in commercial real estate and it is not uncommon for a 2,000 sq ft unit to cost well over $3,000 per month (on the low end) in lease and buildout costs are at an all time high, regularly costing over $100,000 dollars. I used to be the General Manager for a big box retailer and based on the minimal staffing requirements to operate a shop 7 days a week would cost well over $350,000 per year while also having 1-2 owners working for free. Although the $400,000 is set up to help small businesses it is really just setting them up to fail and handing the industry over to the large Medical Operators who are currently charging medical patients the highest prices for cannabis in the entire nation and are still operating at a loss. The CCA reported that the average cost of medical cannabis is over $19/ gram. Additionally, allowing the medical corporations to operate 20x the square footage will give them the ability to flood the market with cannabis and force businesses to operate at a loss. They will do this because they know that they can sustain losses much longer than any small business can. Once the micro businesses are flushed out of the market they will continue their monopoly of the cannabis market and will begin robbing our citizens with outrageously high prices. This has happened and been proven in multiple states before us. PLEASE DO NOT SELL OUT TO THE MULTISTATE CANNABIS CORPORATIONS. THE VIRGINIA CANNABIS INDUSTRY SHOULD HE RUN BY VIRGINIANS FOR VIRGINIANS AND SHOULD PRIORITIZE KEEPING THE WEALTH MADE IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY IN VIRGINIA, NOT LINING THE POCKETS OF OUT OF STATE CORPORATIONS. If anyone would like to discuss this bill or SB448 please contact me at 757-272-3407

I have been waiting years for this. I 100% am happy to see this dream coming true. Please do the right thing by us Virginians and approve this bill

I would like to extend my apologies for misinterpreting the bill HB698 I am not nor will I ever be associated with a bill that will back the farmers of virginia into a black market and destroy what the community has worked so hard to preserve. I do not wish to support this bill for the betterment of virginia. Please do not continue to allow this bill to gain any momentum. This will not create a positive image or movement and will not give the people what is right and fair

Yes I would like to extend my support and acceptance bill HB698 as I do believe a recreational market is better suited for the betterment and convenience of the people. Such a bill would bring a tremendous positive shift to the community as I see no harm in the cannabis laws changing to allow those who would like to embrace and pursue the medicinal properties that one can benefit from its use.

I urge you to table HB698. This bill creates an unfair advantage against Virginia farmers and small businesses. Allowing only a select few an early start is unfair. It is criminal and hypocritical to all agriculture to lock out Virginia farmers by not allowing outdoor cultivation. This bill puts all the control and money in the hands of out of state operators that do not have Virginias best intentions in mind. We urge you to table HB698 and support SB448!

This bill in a large part steals the traditional market that Virginians built and gives it to big multi state corporations that will vacuum hundreds of millions of dollars out of Virginia's economy and into the bank accounts of Jushi(Florida), Green Thumb(Illinois), Columbia Care(New York).

We do need an adult use cannabis market, but there are some parts of this bill that will stifle competition and hurt small businesses. Mainly the absence of outdoor cultivation for licensed cultivators. - Outdoor grow is a great way for small farmers to enter the cannabis market. - Outdoor grow has a significantly lower carbon footprint than burning fossil fuels to power grow lights. - A number of studies have shown consumers prefer sun-grown cannabis over cannabis grown under lights. - Currently, as written this bill would give the pharmaceutical processors unlimited plant count so they can completely dictate the state market price and control the entire state supply. For these reasons I hope you either vote no or amend the bill to allow outdoor grow and not give the Pharmaceutical processors total control of the upcoming market.

To speak out against MSOs taking away from small local cultivators

VOTE THIS BILL OUT! Support local farmers & small businesses. We want cannabis for Virginians by Virginians.. we have enough MSO’s, open the market up for small local business. Don’t make the mistakes of past states and cut out your Virginia states men and women.

We are asking you to vote this bill down as it will have severe negative impacts on local business, farmers, and our communities. We want cannabis for Virginians by Virginians in Virginia soil by Virginia sun..

Outdoor cultivation of cannabis in the state of Virginia is currently legal, but this bill would outlaw outdoor cultivation of cannabis. I can think of no good reason why it would be necessary to remove a right we were given only a few years ago. There is no good reason why an adult in the state of Virginia should be prohibited from growing this plant for their own personal use. I understand that the intent of this bill is to provide a legal pathway, and to further decriminalize and provide access to this important agricultural product. If you really are trying to legalize cannabis, you cannot add new crimes and penalties. Only greed can motivate multi-state operators to remove current rights and freedoms from Virginia taxpayers. Please vote no to this bill OR remove the PROHIBITION on outdoor cultivation of cannabis for personal use. During World War II, Virginia farmers grew hemp for the war effort. The agricultural nature of Virginia impels us to create no crimes for outdoor cultivation and to all work together now, to end the failed “war on drugs” and allow for peaceful outdoor cultivation of cannabis.

Virginia has long been an agricultural state with outdoor growing for everything from peanuts, to tobacco due to our rich soil, temperate climate, and long legacy of dedicated farmers. We know tobacco has been a cash cow for years but it causes cancer and many farmers are excited about the possibility of growing hemp and cannabis as an alternative. This Bill restricting out-door grow is bad for Virginia farmers and bad for Virginia small businesses, but it’s absolutely wonderful for a very small group of out of state organizations that are trying to dominate the Canbabis market before it even begins. As the Chair of the Veterans Affairs committee for the VA Cannabis Association, representing 67,000 cannabis veterans across the state, we strongly Appose HB698.

HB698 is the wrong way to legalize cannabis sales in Virginia. This bill provides an unfair advantage to large multi-state corporations who already have a head start from being in the medical cannabis industry. If passed, this bill would allow a few out-of-state companies to monopolize Virginia’s cannabis industry. The bill attempts to cover up this fact by allowing “microbusinesses” to be funded by the large corporations. However, the term microbusiness as used in this bill is a misnomer. A microbusiness is supposed to be a small business that can vertically integrate subject to narrowly tailored regulations. For example, a microbusiness should be a mom-and-pop shop that can grow, manufacture, and sell cannabis products. HB698 uses “microbusiness” as a cover for “social equity business.” While I fully support social equity being included in the bill, just using “microbusiness” as a catch-all term for social equity is disingenuous. Further, if passed, this bill would limit the amount of sales microbusinesses can make, meaning that it would be limiting the earning power of minority-owned businesses in favor of more sales for large corporations. Not only are the limits on sales seemingly arbitrary, but they are entirely unequitable, and make for a poor policy decision. I recommend HB698 include an expedited licensing process for hemp growers and processors who have been in the industry since before January 1, 2021. Hemp growers and processors know the plant, the products, and the market. Virginia has an interest in ensuring its legal cannabis industry is successful so that it can collect tax revenue, and those who have spent years working with hemp are cannabis experts who are most likely to succeed. While HB448 currently has an expedited process for licensed hemp retailers, VDACS has not yet established the process to become a licensed hemp retailer. As a result, there are currently zero licensed hemp retailers in Virginia. This is another example of HB698 being disingenuous and choosing large out-of-state corporations over Virginian farmers and entrepreneurs. There are numerous other issues with this bill, but for the sake of brevity I ask this committee to strongly consider adopting the language and policy decisions found in SB448. SB448 supports small Virginia businesses and allows for all players to have an equal shot at succeeding in the legal cannabis market. Thank you for your time and effort in reading my comment and for your service to Virginia.

Please include a provision that prohibits ID scanning at retail dispensaries. I could not visit one in Maryland because I refused to let them enter my personal data into their computer. I have a security clearance and so I need to be anonymous. The ABC store just looks at it.