John SchroyerOn Wednesday, the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority announced that its acting chief of more than three years was stepping down.
Jeremy Preiss, who has served as the CCA’s acting head and chief officer of regulatory, policy and external affairs since January 2022, will be replaced by Chief Administrative Officer Jamie Patten, according to a press release from the agency.
“The board is grateful for (Preiss’s) dedication to the CCA and the Commonwealth,” John Keohane, chairman of the CCA Board, said in the release. “His expertise and leadership were instrumental in getting the agency off the ground, developing its mission, and building its operations and regulatory framework. We are confident in (Patten’s) ability to guide the agency forward. (Patten) brings a wealth of experience in public administration and a strong commitment to the CCA’s mission.”
Preiss didn’t provide any reasons for his departure, but said he’s “confident (CCA’s) best days lie ahead under (Patten’s) very capable leadership.”
Patten pledged that the CCA would “continue its important work with a focus on public safety, public health, and community protection.”
The leadership transition at the agency – which oversees the state’s medical marijuana market – came just one day after Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have jumpstarted legal recreational marijuana sales in the commonwealth.
But given the political will within the state legislature to get an adult-use market launched – 2025 was the second year in a row that Youngkin vetoed a recreational marijuana market bill – oversight of a new and growing industry could be part of Patten’s job in the not-too-distant future.
