Politics
Top Virginia Senator Files Bill To Provide Sentencing Relief For People With Marijuana Convictions
Virginia’s Senate president pro tempore has filed a bill to provide relief for people convicted of past cannabis crimes, mandating that individuals with certain offenses automatically receive resentencing hearings and have their punishments adjusted.
The legislation is similar to proposals passed by lawmakers in recent sessions that were vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). The incumbent governor, however, will be leaving office next month and will be replaced by Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D), who supports marijuana reform.
The current proposal, filed on Monday by Sen. Louise Lucas (D), would create a process by which people who are incarcerated or on community supervision for certain felony offenses involving the possession, manufacture, selling or distribution of marijuana could receive an automatic hearing to consider modification of their sentences.
The measure applies to people whose convictions are for conduct that occurred prior to July 1, 2021, when a state law legalizing personal possession and home cultivation of marijuana went into effect.
“During his term, Governor Youngkin repeatedly rejected efforts to review and modify marijuana-related sentences,” JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “We’re ready to move this issue forward under the Spanberger administration and secure justice for those impacted.”
The new sentencing relief bill comes as lawmakers are planning to pass legislation to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana sales to build on the state’s current noncommercial legalization law. Youngkin has also vetoed such proposals in the past, but Spanberger has pledged her support.
“With all the excitement around a new market this is still one our most important bills that offers relief to the most harmed during Virginia’s full prohibition of marijuana,” Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of the advocacy group Marijuana Justice, told Marijuana Moment.
“The resentencing bill is critical to show that Virginia is serious about providing repair along with building an equitable market,” she said. “Black Virginians were four times more likely to be arrested and convicted and there are still people serving sentences inside and on probation who deserve this relief while the commonwealth goes on to generate millions in revenue.”
—
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—
Sheba Williams, executive director of Nolef Turns said that “the time to address sentence modification for cannabis related offenses was at the moment that legalization became reality in Virginia.”
“We had multiple opportunities to do what was right and necessary each year under the Youngkin administration but failed to address the most significant harm of prohibition—the people who have been impacted,” Williams, who is also a Virginia NORML board member and serves on the Virginia Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board, said. “We hope that common sense and justice will apply to those impacted by the failed war on drugs as a new administration ushers in.”
Earlier this month, the legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market unveiled a much-anticipated proposal to legalize recreational marijuana sales that it is recommending lawmakers pass during the 2026 session.
Lucas recently said the state should move forward with legalizing recreational marijuana sales—in part to offset the Trump administration’s cuts to federal spending in support of states.
Separately, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry published a new document this month outlining workplace protections for cannabis consumers.
