Virginia Moves Closer To Launching Regulated Cannabis Sales
A Virginia Senate committee on Friday advanced legislation to create a regulated market for adult-use cannabis sales. Virginia legalized recreational marijuana possession for adults in 2021, but former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed subsequent bills to regulate sales of adult-use weed twice.
On Friday, the Senate Rehabilitation & Social Services Committee approved a bill to legalize recreational marijuana sales from Democratic Sen. Lashrecse Aird after first amending the measure with a new version. The committee voted 8-7 to approve the measure, which includes provisions of a separate bill from Democratic Sen. Aaron Rouse, Marijuana Moment reported on Friday.
“In 2021 Virginia became the first southern state to legalize adult use cannabis, and five years later, Virginia has yet to implement the marketplace we originally envisioned,” Aird said on Friday. “Each year that we go without a marketplace, the illicit market grows and health and safety concerns rise for our citizens.”
“The legislation establishes a market, once and for all, that will protect consumers, protect health and safety while ensuring balance by creating a market that takes into account the harms created by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis laws felt by Black and brown communities,” she said.
The bill would legalize the production and sales of adult-use cannabis products, with regulated sales slated to begin on January 1, 2027. Adults would be permitted to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, or an equivalent amount of other cannabis products as determined by state regulators. The measure is in line with recommendations released last month by the legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market.
New Governor Backs Recreational Weed Sales
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who took office last week, has come out in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis sales for adults.
“Right now is that we live in this gray space where there’s some legality to marijuana, there’s some illegality,” she said before taking office. “There’s a lot of questions—a lot of confusion—and that creates real problems for Virginians who might currently have the legal ability to buy it for medicinal needs, or for those who might try to fall under the personal use.”
The bill now heads to the Senate Courts of Justice Committee for consideration.
