Politics
Virginia Senator Is ‘Very Optimistic’ About Legalizing Marijuana Sales Under New Pro-Reform Governor
With Virginia Democrats widening their House majority and voters electing a pro-legalization governor during last week’s election, one senator from the party says he’s “very optimistic” about the prospect of advancing legislation to create an adult-use marijuana market in the coming session.
In an interview with 13 News Now that aired on Friday, Sen. Aaron Rouse (D) was asked about the prospects of moving forward with cannabis reform and finally implementing a commercial sales program years after the legislature legalized possession and home cultivation by adults.
“Any measure that we can take to find revenue, I’m very optimistic about that approach,” the senator, who has been the lead sponsor of legislation to legalize and regulate adult-use sales that was vetoed by the outgoing GOP governor, said.
“We, in Virginia, have to take every step we can to make sure we can find revenues that strengthen our communities, that strengthens the education process, that puts food on the table, that gets people back to work,” Rouse said.
Since legalizing cannabis possession in 2021, Virginia lawmakers have worked to establish a commercial marijuana market—only to have those efforts consistently stalled under outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who twice vetoed measures to enact it that were sent to his desk by the legislature.
This next session is shaping up to deliver different results. In addition to growing their majority in the Assembly, Democrats now have Abigail Spanberger as the state’s next governor, and the party also secured wins in the Commonwealth’s lieutenant governor and attorney general races.
Spanberger, a former congresswoman, told Marijuana Moment ahead of the election that “as Virginia takes steps toward creating a legalized retail market for cannabis,” the commonwealth “needs a clear strategy to set up a market that is safe for consumers, transparent for businesses, and fair to entrepreneurs.”
She added that “revenue from commercial cannabis products must return to Virginia communities and be reinvested for purposes like strengthening our public schools.”
The governor-elect said she will “work with leaders in the General Assembly to find a path forward that both prioritizes public safety and grows Virginia’s economy”—and that part of that is establishing “a formalized, legal, emerging cannabis market.”
During her time in Congress, Spanberger voted twice on the House floor in support of bills to federally legalize marijuana. She also consistently backed legislation to free up banking services for the industry, protect all state cannabis program from federal interference and expand marijuana research. The former congresswoman additionally opposed a proposal to remove protections for universities that study cannabis.
She voted against certain reform proposals, however, including on measures to lift certain research barriers for Schedule I drugs and to revise federal policy to prevent past marijuana use from being used as a factor to determine eligibility for a security clearance.
Spanberger cosponsored bills to provide medical cannabis access for military veterans on two occasions, and she cosponsored the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act during the 116th Congress.
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In recent months, a Virginia legislative commission has been discussing plans to prepare the state to legalize recreational marijuana sales.
Del. Paul Krizek (D), chair of the Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market, began the most recent meeting last month by noting it would be the second-to-last for the body—saying that at the next and final one in December, members will “go over the bill that we are working on now.”
The plan is for the body to suggest a proposal that the full legislature can consider passing in the 2026 session that begins in January.
At the legislative commission’s first meeting in July, members discussing broad regulatory considerations and other issues related to THC potency, the hemp market and more. In August, the panel focused on cannabis taxes and revenue.
Meanwhile, a top Democratic Virginia senator 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.
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
