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.*

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Sales Under New Pro-Reform Governor appeared first on Marijuana Moment.