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On a recent cold and snowy day just outside of Weber City, a sight was witnessed that would thrill the heart of any small retail business owner.

Between 4 and 4:45 p.m., 99 people drove into a small shopping center parking lot, walked into one of two side-by-side stores and came back out in a few minutes, each carrying a small white paper bag.

Ninety-nine retail customers in 45 minutes!

Seventy-seven people entered the Zarati Shop. Twenty-two entered the Herbal Care + shop next door.

Walking into these stores, a person can quickly see what’s going on: The shops do a brisk business in selling decals or similar legal items — and the buyers walk out with “gifts” of cannabis as tokens of appreciation for their purchases.

There are four such shops in the area: those two, between the town limits and the Tennessee state line; a shop called Plant It Highway III, even closer to the state line; and another Herbal Care + shop within the municipal limits of the small Scott County town, only a mile or so away from the other shops.

Across the state line is the city of Kingsport, Tennessee, one of the gateways to the Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia. The region is a potential customer base of more than 250,000 people.

Almost all the vehicles that pulled into that parking lot on that snowy day had Tennessee license plates. Tennessee law prohibits the distribution of cannabis at retail stores.

The same is true in Virginia — but merchants have been exploiting gray areas in Virginia law to pop up shops such as this across the commonwealth in recent years.

It seems that northeast Tennessee cannabis lovers have discovered that the Weber City area is the place to be, especially during price specials taking place near 4:20 p.m. That time of day references weed lovers’ association of the number 420 with the substance, thanks to a group of 1970s California high school students who would meet at 4:20 p.m. each school day to smoke. 

Scott County law enforcement officials and prosecutors acknowledge that the local shops have been doing a brisk business for a while, but they insist that it’s not legal and it is not being ignored.

How it works

A line of customers waited in each of the four stores. One by one, they would reach a cashier, who would check their driver’s licenses to verify age, then explain what strains of “flower” were available and what quantity of “flower” could be obtained by determining a variable purchase price for one decal. After handing over money, each customer would be directed to another desk, where another employee would hand over either a small white paper bag with a pharmacy Rx label or a plain brown paper bag.

At the Zarati shop, which describes itself on Facebook as an “agricultural service” offering “indoor grow supplies and consultations,” a chalkboard display listed various strains of cannabis. In the other three shops, actual buds of “flower” were on display in plastic labeled containers. 

The purchase of a decal came with a sealed plastic bag of buds and a pre-rolled joint in a black plastic tube.

Cardinal News sent the material to a testing lab. It reported that the flower contained nearly 18% delta 9 THCA and about 2.6% delta 9 THC. The pre-rolled joint contained more than 7% delta 9 THCA and about 6.5% delta 9 THC.

THCA stands for tetrahydrocannabinolic acid — a compound that won’t make you high, but can convert to the buzz-creating THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, when heat is applied. The legal limit of THC to classify the substance as marijuana is 0.3%.

At the Herbal Care + store next door, which describes itself on Facebook as an “agricultural-dessert shop-gift shop,” a similar decal purchase came with a container of “flower” labeled “Cheetah Piss” and a pre-rolled joint. According to the website Allbud.com, “Cheetah Piss is a rare evenly balanced hybrid strain (50% indica/50% sativa).”

The testing lab reported that the flower contained more than 15.8% delta 9 THCA and more than 4.5% delta 9 THC. The joint contained more than 23% delta 9 THCA and about 1.5% delta 9 THC.

A similar purchase at the Herbal Care + store within town limits, which describes itself as a “photo prop shop with a wide assortment of edible and flower photo props,” came with a strain called “Tropicanna cookies.” It did not show up on Allbud.com, but the website identified a strain called simply “Tropicanna,” described as 70 percent sativa and 30 percent indica. The website also lists strains named “Tropicanna garlic,” “Tropicanna poison” and “Tropicanna cherry punch.”

Plant It Highway III, which describes itself as an “agricultural service,” offered a flower labeled “Bubble Yum,” described by allbud.com as a 50/50 mix of indica and sativa.

Managers at each of the stores did not return phone messages left for them. 

Enforcement

During the term of Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing possession of up to an ounce of cannabis for personal use on one’s property and allowing cultivation of up to four cannabis plants for personal consumption, effective in July 2021.

Northam hoped the legislature would go on to establish a legal framework for retail cannabis sales in Virginia, but Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has repeatedly vetoed legislation that would do so.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officials have struggled at times to go after the shops that are gifting weed, in part because of the difficulty in determining whether the substances they distribute meet the definition of an illegal substance or are legal substances, based on the THCA or THC content.

Scott County officials acknowledge the shops near and in Weber City are still distributing cannabis and that some citizens have complained about their presence — including concerns about traffic jams and reckless driving in the shopping center parking lot that serves the Zarati Shop and the nearby Herbal Care +.

Sheriff’s office investigator Domenic Nickels said law enforcement continues to investigate the activity of such shops, but he would not discuss specifics.

Nickels noted that in 2023, several law enforcement agencies searched several Scott County shops following undercover purchases. 

Commonwealth’s Attorney Kyle Kilgore and deputy prosecutor Dan Fellhauer also declined to discuss ongoing investigations. But they noted that several people had been charged and some had been convicted following the 2023 searches.

According to published reports in June 2024, the sheriff’s office had released the names of a dozen people facing charges after those searches. Most of those people identified in news coverage had been charged with possession of marijuana and conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

So far, none of the dozen people is facing hard time in lockup.

According to information available on the Virginia court case information website, these are the outcomes so far: 

• One person pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison, all suspended, and ordered to pay a $1,500 fine.
• One person entered an Alford plea — not admitting guilt but acknowledging there was sufficient evidence for a conviction — and was sentenced to three years, with two suspended, and to pay $500.
• Two people are set for circuit court hearings on April 15.
• Two people pleaded guilty to distribution charges in circuit court on Jan. 15, but disposition of their sentences has been deferred because they were first offenders.
• One person pleaded guilty to the same charges on Jan. 15 and faces a sentencing hearing on July 24.
• Three people pleaded guilty to possession and distribution charges last September, but the charges were reduced to misdemeanors. The sentences were 12 months in jail, all suspended, and a $250 fine.
• One person pleaded guilty to misdemeanor distribution of one ounce or less and got a 30-day suspended sentence and a $250 fine.
• One person was initially charged with possession and distribution, but the charges were rendered “nolle prosequi” in general district court — meaning they will not be prosecuted at this time, but the charges can be reinstated.