Virginia Lawmakers Approve Bill To Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales

Virginia lawmakers have approved legislation to legalize recreational marijuana sales that was recently negotiated with the governor following her veto of an earlier proposal to enact the reform.

The Senate passed a large-scale budget measure that includes the cannabis provisions in a 23-16 vote on Monday, and the House of Delegates is expected to take up the bill later in the day, which would send it to Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) to be signed into law.

“Today, with the passage of the biennium budget, Virginia also formally adopted its adult-use cannabis retail marketplace,” Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D), who sponsored the Senate version of the previous legalization measure and negotiated with the governor on the final agreement, told Marijuana Moment after the vote. “Countless leaders paved the way for this moment, and too many Virginians have experienced real consequences because of our delay in establishing this market. Now, that changes.”

“While our framework is not perfect, it protects consumers, supports small businesses and creates real economic opportunity,” she said. “Like the first steps we took years ago, today’s action is another milestone in a long journey as we continue to build, strengthen and support a safe, responsive and successful cannabis marketplace.”

The new plan differs significantly in several ways from the earlier legislation that lawmakers passed earlier this year and that the governor vetoed.

For example, it sets the launch date for recreational marijuana sales at July 1, 2027, which is what Spanberger proposed via amendments to the legislature’s previous plan that had contemplated opening the market on January 1.

The newly passed deal 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.

Advocates have expressed opposition to the cannabis penalty increase, saying it will “deepen racial and economic disparities.”

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.

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 Del. Paul Krizek (D), who sponsored of the House version of the legalization legislation, 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 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.

Meanwhile, the governor signed several other reform bills this session—including measures to provide resentencing relief for people with past cannabis convictions, protect the parental rights of marijuana consumers and allow patients to access medical cannabis in hospitals.

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