After months of hearings, Virginia panel set to roll out blueprint for legal cannabis market

Workers at gLeaf Medical tend to plants in a grow room at the Richmond medical marijuana dispensary. After months of hearings and study, the legislature’s Joint Commission on the Future of Cannabis Sales is poised to roll out a final proposal Tuesday that would launch a legal, regulated adult-use cannabis retail market in Virginia — potentially ending five years of economic and legal uncertainty since the commonwealth legalized possession and cultivation in 2021. The final bill — carried by Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, and Sens. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, in the General Assembly — scraps the controversial local-opt-out clause, increases local taxing authority and builds a licensing regime designed to privilege small, independent, Virginia-based businesses over large medical-marijuana operators. In August, lawmakers heard from experts on taxation, equity and small-business opportunity — clear signals that the commission was preparing to write a framework that diverged from past drafts. Players in the medical-cannabis system — which underlies the retail rollout — recently logged major milestones. The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority’s seed-to-sale tracking system, operated through the vendor Metrc, is now live. Between July and August, the medical market recorded nearly $30 million in sales across more than 256,000 transactions. The final bill also increases local taxing authority. Under previous proposals, localities could levy up to 2.5% in local excise tax. The new draft raises that cap to 3.5%, giving local governments more resources for schools, public-health campaigns and other priorities. The state tax remains at a proposed 8% — with a new provision to allow deductibility of certain business costs at the state level, even though marijuana remains federally illegal. Critics at past hearings pointed out that older drafts still lacked crucial definitions for delivery agents and clarity on labeling, especially for edibles and topicals. UFCW 400 — a union representing 35,000 workers across retail, cannabis, grocery, health care, food-processing and service jobs in the mid-Atlantic — praised the new plan’s emphasis on small businesses and equitable labor practices. Virginia became the first Southern state to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2021, allowing adults 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce and cultivate up to four plants at home. But the law included no mechanism for legal sales, and successive retail-market bills were blocked by vetoes from outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin. During her campaign, Democrat Abigail Spanberger, elected governor two weeks ago, pledged to sign legislation establishing a regulated retail system — reversing the impasse that kept marijuana sales in limbo.