Long awaited sales of cannabis flower in Virginia began this month when medical dispensaries received the final product approvals from the state’s regulatory agency.
Tag: medical marijuana laws
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam has signed House Bill 1862 into law, which provides employment protections for state-registered medical cannabis patients.
The advancement of this legislation is another historic step for cannabis justice in Virginia. The bills now head to the Governor.
Virginia legislature sends bills to Governor Northam to approve dispensing of herbal medical cannabis
Gov Northam has approved legislation to decriminalize marijuana possession offenses and provide explicit legal protection to the state’s medical cannabis program participants. The new laws will take effect July 1, 2020.
The enactment of statewide laws permitting the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes is associated with an annual reduction in obesity-related medical costs, according to data published online ahead of print in the journal Health Economics. Researchers reported, “[T]he enforcement of MMLs (medical marijuana laws) is associated with a 2% to 6% decline in the probability of obesity. … Our estimates suggest that MMLs induce a $58 to $115 per-person annual reduction in obesity-related medical costs.”
The passage of medical cannabis laws is associated with a reduction in the public’s consumption of alcohol and with fewer incidences of alcohol-related traffic fatalities, according to data published in the Journal of Law and Economics.
[Editor’s note: This post is excerpted from this week’s forthcoming NORML weekly media advisory. To…