ROANOKE, Va. – Helping people with a love of agriculture is Bette Brand’s top priority, so it was only natural for her to apply for Virginia’s first Cannabis Control Authority Board.
“A lot of people are excited about this industry, the potential it has for the economics and the communities across the Commonwealth and they are anxious they want the licenses now,” Cannabis Control Authority Board Member Bette Brand said.
Brand is one of five who will travel to Richmond to provide oversight on the recent legalization of marijuana in the Commonwealth.
She is the only representative from Southwest Virginia.
“We all come from different backgrounds and experiences and then we need to learn about the legislation all the impacts I think all of us have been exposed at some level to various aspects, but a good concrete understanding is going to be important,” Brand said.
But Brand says southwest Virginia will play a major role in the board’s work over the next two years and a half years, as our region is likely where most of the production will happen.
“We need to make sure that’s considered in the small producer is has an opportunity just as big as the large ones that there needs to be a balance, and opportunity for anyone who wants to engage, and it’s hard work, but we want to have those opportunities available in this part of the state, just as much as anywhere else,” Brand said.
The Cannabis Control Authority Board is set to have its first meeting in person in Richmond in the coming weeks.