Virginia: Gov. Youngkin vetoes cannabis sales bill • Missouri regulators revoke 9 licenses • NIDA-backed clinical trial looks at THC vapes • & more …

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In February, as Cannabis Wire reported at the time, after years of legislative standstill, lawmakers in Virginia sent Gov. Glenn Youngkin a bill to allow for adult use sales in Virginia. Adult use, sans sales, has been legal in the state since 2021. 

But Youngkin’s position on legalization has been consistent: apathetic at best, but largely opposed. So, at this point, the veto comes as little surprise.

“The proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety,” Youngkin wrote in his veto statement. “Addressing the inconsistencies in enforcement and regulation in Virginia’s current laws does not justify expanding access to cannabis, following the failed paths of other states and endangering Virginians’ health and safety.”

Back in October, the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation awarded the first microbusiness licenses in the state, following the launch of adult use sales in February via existing medical cannabis shops.

Since then, however, the process has been subject to scrutiny as local news organizations found a pattern of “predatory behavior” among entities vying for licenses in the state. In December, the Division announced that eleven of the 48 licensees received “notices of pending revocation” and were given the opportunity to respond.

This week, the Division provided an update: “two licensees satisfied the NOPR by demonstrating that the licenses are and were majority owned and operated by individuals who met qualifications for ownership. One license was revoked due to an owner having a disqualifying felony offense with the revocation taking effect on March 11, 2024. The remaining eight licenses had numerous violations of rule including providing false or misleading information in the application and failure to demonstrate that the microbusiness licenses were majority owned and operated by eligible individuals.”

It gets even worse: “Throughout the application and verification process of the eight revoked licenses, the purported majority owners had limited to no knowledge or understanding of agreements or operations of the license and in some cases did not know the person who applied for the license on their behalf.”

This situation, said Division Director Amy Moore in this week’s announcement, “does not meet even the most generous interpretation of owning and operating a business.”

Researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, are conducting a clinical trial that aims to assess “differences in the delivery of THC to the bloodstream depending on whether nicotine vapes are used before or after THC,” according to a study overview. 

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a collaborator for this study, for which 60 participants are expected to be recruited. 

Researchers will zero in on the effects of THC and nicotine when vaped at the same time and alone, specifically on areas like mood and cognitive abilities. Participants will be split into three groups, each undergoing different sequences of vaping THC, nicotine, and placebos, across three sessions to compare the outcomes. Researchers will analyze blood samples and follow-up at the 30-day mark.

“While there has been much recent publicity about vaping products and concern about their safety considering their increasing use for THC administration, the THC delivery profile associated with THC liquid vaping products in human subjects is currently unknown,” the overview reads.

“Importantly, how the delivery to the bloodstream of THC vaping liquids compare to delivery from smoked cannabis, which is the most used method of cannabis delivery, will serve as an important benchmark for evaluating the delivery and effects of THC vaping products, and their relative safety.”

This study is expected to wrap up in 2028.