Cannabis control; vertical integration, social equity.

Cannabis control; vertical integration; socialequity. Requires the Board of Directors of the Virginia CannabisControl Authority (the Board) to promulgate regulations that allowto qualify as a social equity applicant, and therefore receive certainlicensing preferences and advantages, any applicant that has livedor been domiciled for at least 12 months in the Commonwealth andwhose principal place of business is, and was prior to July 1, 2021,located in a jurisdiction determined by the Board to be economically distressed. The bill also provides that, if an act of assembly ispassed by the 2022 Session of the General Assembly that creates licensesto allow for the cultivation, manufacture, wholesale, and retailsale of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products in the Commonwealth,any industrial hemp processor that meets certain registration, program,and production requirements set forth in the bill shall be permittedto possess one or any combination of such licenses upon payment ofa $1 million fee to the Board and submission of and compliance witha diversity, equity, and inclusion plan.