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.

“Last year we passed unanimously the historic Let Doctors Decide bill that expanded patient access to our medical cannabis program,” said Dunnavant, a medical doctor from Henrico. “We got a lot of things right, but there are some screws that can be tightened so the law better benefits the health and well-being of all Virginians.”

Two Virginia bills that would have legalized marijuana in the state were killed by a legislative committee on Wednesday. The House of Delegates Courts of Justice Committee also shot down several measures that would have decriminalized cannabis by 5-3 votes, according to media reports.

Del. Steve Heretick, who introduced both a legalization and decriminalization bill, announced the defeat of the proposals in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Virginia lawmakers are back at the capital for the 2019 legislative session that kicks off Wednesday.

Gov. Ralph Northam will issue his State of the Commonwealth at 7 p.m. in Richmond after the General Assembly convenes at noon.

This year’s session is scheduled to last 45 days and end on Feb. 23.

Much of the focus will be on state tax policy and whether to expand gambling in Virginia.

A Democrat delegate, representing Norfolk and Portsmouth, has already introduced a bill that would legalize marijuana in Virginia.

Virginia House Delegate Steve Heretick, a former Justice Department attorney and president of the Virginia Board of Medicine, knows that cannabis, like any intoxicant, poses risks. But he also believes that adults should have the freedom and the responsibility to choose whether or not to consume cannabis for medical or other purposes. In a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday, the day before the start of Virginia’s first 2019 legislative legislation, Heretick presents those views as he introduces his bill to legalize marijuana in the state. Today, Heretick submitted that bill, HB2371, to the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates.

When it comes to marijuana, Virginia has lagged behind many states where the drug has been decriminalized or legalized for recreational use.

With lawmakers approving an expansion of the state's medical marijuana program in 2018, supporters of decriminalization are hoping that momentum will continue in 2019. But Virginia Republicans don't appear willing to support decriminalization.