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June 26, 2023 Editor, The News-Gazette: Starting on the first of July, Governor Youngkin - and no few legislators from both parties - will make good on a false dichotomy: prioritizing a crackdown on hemp-derived THC products over the implementation of a legal cannabis market.
In so doing, they will effectively cripple, if not shutter, a budding industry full of small businesses. Many of these currently operate and generate tax revenue in previously abandoned retail spaces across Rockbridge County.
Voters concerned about the rise of delta-8 and similar products must understand that those products are simply meeting the demands of the free market - demands that go unmet as the state government drags its feet on realizing provisions for natural cannabis approved in 2021.
Of course, some Virginians might view these hemp products as a morally distasteful source of income and economic opportunity for the Old Dominion. Imagine the scandal: a respectable commonwealth like Virginia, raking in money from the sale of a noxious smokeable plant! JOSH GARDNER Natural Bridge Station
