Exactly one year after their home state Virginia legalized adult use cannabis, long time cannabis advocates Ron and Sarah Morton will celebrate the one-year anniversary of their company LOCKGREEN with a community-involved happy hour celebration that will take place at Rennee’s Restaurant and Lounge in downtown Suffolk on Friday, July 1, 2022 from 4:00 – 8:00pm.
LOCKGREEN is a 100% Black-owned, Suffolk, VA based company that aims to give cannabis consumers peace of mind as they safely store and travel with their goods by using their smell-proof stashboxes that have a built-in combination lock. The locking function is an important feature because it provides the protection needed to keep kids and other unwanted guests out and helps prevent open container law violations when traveling in a car with a stash.
The Morton’s launched LOCKGREEN to help prevent cannabis law violations that could result due to Consumers being unaware of new and often confusing cannabis state laws. When Virginia made history as the first state in the South to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2021, the cannabis open container law was, and still remains, unclear.
Often when states first roll out cannabis laws, there is often unclear language and provisions, leaving Consumers confused about what can and cannot be done. In Virginia, Code § 4.1-1107 states that an open container is “any vessel containing marijuana or marijuana products, except the originally sealed manufacturer’s container.” The problem is that unless you are a medical patient transporting an unopened package from the dispensary, an originally sealed manufacturer’s container does not exist for everyone else in the adult-use (recreational) market.
LOCKGREEN’s mission is to be a part of the solution to help prevent cannabis law violations with the use of their stash boxes, and also by educating the community on cannabis laws, which they have done for the past year by way of speaking at events, media interviews, and social media. The built-in lock allows the stash box to be “sealed” so that when it is transported in the trunk of a car, Consumers have the best chance of avoiding permissive inference which is the assumption that a person has consumed marijuana while driving or as a passenger in a car.
2022 CHANGES IN VIRGINIA’S MARIJUANA LAWS
With LOCKGREEN’s focus on community education, they will be sure to educate on these updates:
• Currently, the personal possession in public of more than one ounce and up to one pound of marijuana by adults 21 and older is subject to no more than a $25 civil penalty. As of July 1, 2022, personal possession in public of over four ounces and less than a pound of cannabis will be a Class 3 misdemeanor, making it punishable by a $500 fine. Second or subsequent offenses will be Class 2 misdemeanors punishable by up to 6 months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
• Medical patients no longer have to register with the Board of Pharmacy to buy marijuana products from dispensaries after receiving a certificate from a registered practitioner.
• Copycat THC products will be banned (THC-laced candy or snacks that mimic well-known brands like Doritos, Lucky Charms and Starburst).
