Marijuana Reform Advocates Push Virginia Governor To Remove Public Consumption Penalty Increase From Legalization Bill

As Virginia’s governor weighs changes to budget legislation that lawmakers approved this week, marijuana reform advocates are urging her to cancel out a section that would dramatically increase penalties for public consumption of cannabis—which they say will be enforced on a racially discriminatory manner based on new data they have obtained.

The budget bill passed by the legislature contains provisions that advocates generally support to legalize recreational marijuana sales—but it would also increase the current $25 fine for using cannabis in a public place by 900 percent to $250—a spike that advocates are calling a “poverty penalty.”

A coalition of advocacy groups led by Marijuana Justice on Wednesday released new enforcement stats that they obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that they say “proves that legalization has not ended racially biased marijuana policing” in the state.

The advocates gave the data to Christopher Newport University’s Center for Crime, Equity and Justice Research and Policy, which conducted an analysis.

The state information shows that since noncommercial cannabis legalization took effect in Virginia in 2021, 185 white people and 179 Black people have been charged with public consumption.

“When analyzing these totals against the overall racial breakdown in Virginia, it is clear that Black individuals are disproportionately more likely to be charged for public consumption of marijuana than white individuals,” the university center said. “Specifically, Black individuals are approximately 3.29 times more likely to be charged than white individuals.”

“If representation were perfectly proportional to the state’s population, the expected breakdown would be approximately 255 white individuals and 75 Black individuals,” the analysis said.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has already said she will be using her authority to send back proposed amendments for lawmakers to consider ahead of a July 1 budget deadline. That likely includes technical fixes to the marijuana sections, such as removing question marks that were left into the legislation as passed—but advocates also want her to make the substantive change of rescinding the public use fine increase.

Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice, said that the state’s previously enacted law legalizing cannabis possession “was meant to stop the disproportionate targeting of Black communities, yet the state’s own FOIA data tells a different story.”

The penalty increase under the approved legislation will not take effect until July 1 of next year, raising the possibility that lawmakers could pass legislation next session to rescind it.

But “postponing harm is not the same as preventing it, and we reject it outright,” Wise told Marijuana Moment. “Delaying a 900 percent fine increase until 2027 does not change its impact. This remains a poverty penalty. Address this now, not later.”

“With the data in hand, Governor Spanberger should to do the right thing and be an advocate for Black community members by striking the increase from the budget,” she said.

Marijuana Justice and other groups like the ACLU of Virginia, National Organization the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Policy Project, Drug Policy Alliance and Latino Cannabis Alliance, among others, recently sent a letter urging lawmakers and the governor not to boost the cannabis penalty, saying it 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. “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 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 measure to legalize recreational cannabis sales after lawmakers rejected her proposed amendments to the plan. She later negotiated with Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D) and Del. Paul Krizek (D), who sponsored the earlier measure, on a compromise deal that was included in the budget legislation that passed this week.

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.

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 this month 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.

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 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.

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.

Here are the key details of the new cannabis plan in the budget 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.

Read the analysis on Virginia marijuana penalty enforcement below:

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