The first commercial industrial hemp fiber processing facility in the U.S. state of Virginia should be up and running soon.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced Vitality Farms, LLC, operating as Appalachian Biomass Processing, will establish a facility in Wythe County and has plans of purchasing 6,000 tons of hemp grown in the state over the next three years.

In March this year, Governor Northam signed legislation legalising commercial growing and processing of industrial hemp in the state. Previously hemp could only be grown in Virginia for research purposes.

Hemp farmers in Virginia could have crop insurance available to them as early as 2020, according to a congressional press release Thursday, Sept. 25.

U.S. Senators. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), along with U.S. Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Don Beyer (D-VA), Ben Cline (R-VA), Elaine Luria (D-VA), Denver Riggleman (R-VA), and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) today secured Virginia’s inclusion in a pilot program by AgriLogic Consulting, a private company developing a Federal Yield-Based Industrial Hemp Crop Insurance Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Northern Virginia’s first medical marijuana facility Dalisto will open its doors in Manassas next year.

While cultivation centers and dispensaries are completely separate in DC and Maryland, Virginia sites like Dalisto will house every step of the medical cannabis process from seed to sale under a single roof.

Virginia law enforcement could soon have another tool to help distinguish marijuana from CBD, a move that comes after a News4 I-Team investigation found flaws with commonly used drug field tests.

On Wednesday, the commonwealth’s top forensic scientist recommended police officers incorporate a new drug field test, developed by Swiss police, that turns distinct colors when a material contains more marijuana than its hemp cousin, CBD.

Speaking at a board meeting, Linda Jackson said her office ran extensive validation tests on the Swiss kits and recommends police officers use them in tandem with the former kits.

The total number of marijuana-related arrests in 2018 climbed to nearly 29,000 – a total that is three times higher than 1999 totals, according to crime data compiled by the Virginia State Police.

For months, Virginia hemp farmers and processors have been operating under a cloud of regulatory uncertainty despite the enactment of legislation last March authorizing commercial hemp production, including extracts, in Virginia.

Three new laws intended to expand patient access to and the therapeutic value of Virginia’s medical cannabis program take effect July 1, 2019.

“Patient access is critical to the success of Virginia’s medical cannabis program,” said Jenn Michelle Pedini, NORML’s development director and executive director of Virginia NORML. “These bills help ensure that all patients are able to obtain and use the necessary therapeutic doses of their cannabis medicines regardless of location or physical ability.”

Virginia’s first five medical marijuana facilities are set to open by the end of the year, but only 600 people have registered for the program so far. Advocates are reporting confusion about how the program works.

Madison Davis is one of those early signups. Davis was five years old when she was diagnosed with a rare type of brain cancer called ependymoma. Her parents turned to cannabis as a way to help prevent Madison from having seizures.

Madison’s mother, Melanie Davis, believes it does much more than that. She says cannabis is what allows her daughter to keep up a busy schedule of ballet, swimming and school.

“You won't convince us that that's not the reason why she is still herself today,” Davis said in an interview in May.

A bill signed by Governor Northam last week will expand Virginia’s medical cannabis program, enabling Virginians to purchase regulated products that utilize the cannabinoids CBD and THC in a variety of formulas.

Virginians will now be able to head to a doctor, physicians assistant, or licensed nurse practitioner and receive a certificate for use of CBD and THC-A products.

Oils, capsules, lozenges, patches, and lollipops are just a few of the ways that residents of the Commonwealth will be able to consume the regulated marijuana products, which will be available for purchase from five dispensary-style pharmacies established throughout the state.

At the start of 2019, it looked like Virginia was finally ready to gain ground on the issue of cannabis legalization. On the agenda for the first legislative session were two bills to legalize and decriminalize cannabis. But the lawmaker who introduced them has admitted defeat. Virginia House Delegate Stephen Heretick, a Democrat representing the state’s 79th District, has vowed to continue the fight for adult-use legalization in Virginia. Meanwhile, other pro-legalization lawmakers are turning their attention to expanding access to the state’s legal medical cannabis products.