VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Virginia lawmakers have given the final passage to a bill to add regulations to the hemp industry, which local businesses say could devastate them.
A conference bill version of HB2294 passed in both the House of Delegates and Senate Friday, sending the legislation to Gov. Youngkin's desk for review.
The bill adds packaging, labeling, and testing requirements. Opponents say it also adds additional clauses, putting caps on what they can sell.
"With this bill, I don't think the intention is to put farmers out of business, but it's going to and that's why we're working the phone lines hard," said Brad Wynne, who owns Veg Out Organics along with his wife Katie.
The company grows hemp for a CBD skincare brand on a farm in Pungo.
News 3 spoke with Wynne on Friday before lawmakers gave the bill final passage.
"We weren't going to sit back and watch this business that I've watched Brad grow in the last eight years. I'm not just going to sit back and let a bill in Richmond destroy everything we've worked for," said Katie.
Hemp is another form of cannabis but is separate from marijuana. Products derived from it began popping up a few years ago after a federal law removed hemp from the definition of marijuana.
It's led to products like CBD and Delta 8 THC popping up on store shelves. CBD does not get users high and instead is used in some cases to help people relax.
Delta 8 THC, on the other hand, can give users an intoxicating high. The Youngkin administration has sought to ban Delta 8.
The bill's authors have defended it as an effort to keep intoxicating products out of the hands of children.
"It's about a safety issue that's confronting us right now, where we need to deal with it in this bill," said Sen. Emmett Hanger (R-Augusta County).
The hemp industry has been warning the bill is too broad and could take down many Virginia businesses. "That's jobs. That's tax revenue. That's everything. I honestly don't know what a lot of people are going to do," said Brad Wynne.
The final compromise bill is now through the General Assembly and now Gov. Youngkin can sign it into law, veto it, or amend it.
