Advocacy Groups Push Back Against Virginia Proposal To Increase Public Marijuana Use Fines In Sales Legalization Measure

A coalition of marijuana reform and social justice organizations are calling on Virginia’s governor and lawmakers to remove provisions to significantly increase fines for public consumption from recreational cannabis sales legalization legislation that’s expected to be voted on next week.

Under current law, using cannabis in public is a civil violation punishable by a $25 fine. Under a new compromise to legalize adult-use marijuana sales through budget legislation that was negotiated by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) and key lawmakers, however, the fine would be increased by 900 percent to $250.

That is generating pushback from groups like the ACLU of Virginia, Marijuana Justice, National Organization the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Policy Project, Drug Policy Alliance and Latino Cannabis Alliance, among others, who say the penalty spike would “deepen racial and economic disparities.”

“Higher fines and penalties for low-level marijuana offenses are not neutral,” the organizations wrote in a letter to Spanberger and legislators on Thursday. “They are enforced disproportionately against Black and brown communities, create debt that low-income people cannot afford and can trigger cascading harms in immigration, housing, education and employment.”

“Virginia should not recreate over-policing and over-incarceration through fines and fees when the stated goal of legalization is public health, equity, repair and reducing criminalization,” they said.

The Virginia Senate is set to vote on the overall budget including the cannabis provisions on Monday, and the House of Delegates is expected to do so soon after.

The new letter, which was also signed by Parabola Center for Law and Policy, Nolef Turns Inc., Justice Forward Virginia, New Virginia Majority and Virginia NORML, along with other groups, calls on state officials to:

• Maintain the $25 civil fine for public consumption.
• Reject any proposals that raise fines or add criminal penalties for low-level marijuana use.
• Center racial equity and harm reduction in all cannabis policies.
• Ensure legalization reduces over-policing and over-incarceration instead of recreating them through fines and fees.
• Ensure policy is based on data rather than creating punitive policy first and looking for justification later.

“These steps will help Virginia move toward real legalization that repairs past harms, prioritizes public health, protects vulnerable communities and keeps people out of the criminal legal system,” the letter says. “They also align with concerns raised by legislative leaders that expanding criminal penalties would repeat the very harm legalization was intended to address.”

Drug Policy Alliance separately launched an online action alert that Virginia residents can use to send messages urging the governor and lawmakers to pull back the proposed cannabis penalty increase.

Spanberger last month vetoed a previous proposal to legalize recreational cannabis sales after lawmakers rejected her proposed amendments to the plan. She has since been negotiating with Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D) and Del. Paul Krizek (D), who sponsored the earlier measure, and earlier this week the officials announced that they had reached a compromise deal that they believe can pass as part of the budget ahead of a July 1 deadline.

The new plan differs significantly in several ways from the earlier legislation.

For example, it sets the launch date for recreational marijuana sales at July 1, 2027, which is what Spanberger proposed in contrast to the January 1 date in what lawmakers had passed.

It also sets the legal public marijuana possession and per-transaction purchase limit at 2 ounces, an increase from the current legal limit of one ounce. The legislation lawmakers passed earlier this year would have allowed adults to possess up to 2.5 ounces.

The bill also cedes to Spanberger on language to increase a marijuana excise tax from 6 percent to 8 percent after two years of legal sales.

By way of compromise, the new agreement would make public consumption of marijuana punishable by a civil penalty of $250—a significant increase from the $25 in current law but less harsh than the class 4 criminal misdemeanor the governor sought in her proposed changes to the previous bill. The penalty increase would not take effect until July 1 of next year, however, raising the possibility that lawmakers could pass legislation next session to rescind it.

Lawmakers passed the initial cannabis sales bills in March, but the governor then suggested changes to the legalization proposal—including delaying the start date for sales by six months, increasing taxes and instituting new criminal penalties for cannabis consumers. The legislature in April declined to take up the amendments during a one-day reconvened session, however, effectively rejecting them. Spanberger then issued a veto.

Spanberger said last week that she was having “really productive” and “incredible” conversations with lawmakers about crafting a compromise approach to legalizing adult-use cannabis sales, and Marijuana Moment previously reported on the ongoing talks.

Following Spanberger’s veto, top lawmakers have been openly discussing the possibility of including provisions to legalize adult-use cannabis sales in still-outstanding budget legislation that they are due to pass by July 1.

The effort to keep the issue alive was a topic of discussion at the first meeting of the legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market since the governor’s move to kill the previous proposal to regulate adult-use marijuana sales.

The governor, meanwhile, has tried publicly explain her veto—including by saying it is her view that “taking a little bit longer” to launch the market is not something she sees as “negative” because it is more important to get the details right than to do it fast.

A recent survey found that bipartisan majorities of Virginia voters wanted Spanberger to sign the cannabis legislation into law, and that they specifically disagreed with her desire to slow the launch timeline for legal sales.

The governor recently acknowledged in a separate interview that “a lot of people are not pleased” with her veto of the cannabis legislation. “Friends and family are displeased as well,” she said.

Spanberger has repeatedly responded to criticism of her cannabis amendments from the bill sponsors and advocates by saying the suggested changes came after she spoke to the leaders of other states that have already implemented adult-use marijuana markets.

A spokesperson for Spanberger declined to name any other governors she talked to about cannabis in response to a question from Marijuana Moment, however.

The governor separately recently sought to explain her veto in an earlier interview, reiterating that she supports launching a legal cannabis market but worried about what she called a “rushed timeline” and “far more stores across Virginia” than she thinks are appropriate.

Prior to vetoing the cannabis commerce bill, the governor did sign separate legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with past cannabis convictions.

Personal marijuana possession and home cultivation of marijuana has been legal in Virginia since 2021, but then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) twice vetoed bills to provide consumers with a way to legally purchase regulated adult-use cannabis.

Aird and Krizek, the sponsors of the legalization bills, had urged colleagues to vote against the governor’s amendments—even if that meant risking a veto from Spanberger when the legislation returned to her desk.

Here are the key details of the new cannabis plan and how it compares to legislation that Spanberger vetoed—SB 542 and HB 642—as well as her previously proposed amendments to those measures:

• Adults would be able to purchase up to 2 ounces of marijuana in a single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis products as determined by regulators. That would represent an increase from the limit in current law of 1 ounce. Lawmakers previously proposed setting the amount at 2.5 ounces and the governor only wanted 2 ounces.
• Legal sales could begin on July 1, 2027. Lawmakers previously set the date for January 1, 2027, but the governor wanted it pushed back to July 1.
• There would be an excise tax of 6 percent on cannabis sales as well as a 5.3 percent retail sales and use tax, and municipalities would be allowed to set an additional local tax of up to 3.5 percent. Starting on July 1, 2029, the state excise tax would increase to 8 percent, in line with the governor’s previously proposed amendments.
• Revenue would be distributed to the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, early childhood education, the Department of Behavioral & Developmental Health Services and public health initiatives. The earlier measure passed by lawmakers would have allocated specific percentages to each, but the new language doesn’t specify what portion of revenue will go to each program. The governor, in her amendments, wanted to put all revenue into the general fund while earmarking it “for purposes such as early childhood education, behavioral health, public health awareness, prevention, treatment, and recovery services, workforce development, reentry, indigent criminal defense, and targeted reinvestment in historically disadvantaged communities.” Her amendment also sought to eliminate support for the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund.
• The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would oversee licensing and regulation of the new industry, and will also take on oversight of hemp, which is currently under the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The body would be governed by a five-member board of directors appointed by the governor, whereas the bill previously passed by lawmakers contemplated a seven-member body with four appointed by the governor, two appointed by the speaker of the House and one appointed by the Senate Rules Committee.
• The definition of what constitutes a legal hemp product would be narrowed by removing a provision from current law that allows those containing more than 2 milligrams of total THC per package if they also have a ratio of CBD to THC that is 25:1 or more.
• Up to 350 retail marijuana stores would be allowed to be licensed to operate across the state, the same number that lawmakers had approved and greater than the 200 the governor had proposed.
• Local governments would not be able to out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area.
• Delivery services would be allowed.
• Serving sizes would be capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package.
• Public use of marijuana would be a civil violation punishable by a $250 fine. That is ten times more than the $25 fine under current law, but less harsh than than the class 4 criminal misdemeanor crime the governor had proposed. Possession of cannabis by people under the age of 21 would be punishable by a $25 fine and mandatory participation in a substance abuse treatment or education program or both. The governor had suggested treating underage possession as a class 1 misdemeanor, punishable with a mandatory minimum fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service, as well as the suspension of drivers licenses for at least six months.
• Existing medical cannabis operators could enter the adult-use market if they pay a $10 million licensing conversion fee.
• Cannabis businesses would have to establish labor peace agreements with workers.
• A legislative commission would be directed to study adding on-site consumption licenses and microbusiness cannabis event permits that would allow licensees to conduct sales at venues like farmers markets or pop-up locations. That provision was also included in the earlier legislation lawmakers passed but was suggested for deletion by the governor.

Marijuana reform advocates cheered the fact that a legal sales deal is coming together, but they expressed concerns about some of the penalty increases in the bill.

“This compromise represents a meaningful step toward bringing Virginia’s cannabis laws in line with public opinion and moving the commonwealth closer to a marketplace that consumers have long demanded,” JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, said. “Although NORML has deep concerns about provisions in the bill to increase the civil penalty for public cannabis consumption, we are encouraged by other areas of broader agreement. This bill establishes a consumer-friendly regulated marketplace, improves public safety and provides clear rules for everyone involved.”

Meanwhile, the governor signed several other reform bills this session—including measures to protect the parental rights of marijuana consumers and allow patients to access medical cannabis in hospitals.

Read the full letter about the proposed Virginia marijuana penalty increase below:

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