Virginia Senators Approve Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales Under New Pro-Reform Governor

Virginia senators have advanced a bill to legalize and regulate
recreational marijuana sales—one of several reform proposals under
consideration as the 2026 session gets underway.

The Senate Rehabilitation & Social Services Committee on Friday took up two
marijuana sales legalization measures. After amending one of the proposals
from Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D) with a substitute version, it passed the panel
in a 8-7 vote.

The bill largely aligns with recommendations released last month by the
legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the
Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market.

Since legalizing cannabis possession and home cultivation in 2021, Virginia
lawmakers have worked to establish a commercial marijuana market—only to
have those efforts consistently stalled under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin
(R), who twice vetoed measures to enact it that were sent to his desk by
the legislature.

“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.

Under the measure as revised by the committee, adult-use cannabis sales
could begin on January 1, 2027.

The Senate committee also considered a separate cannabis sales measure
sponsored by Sen. Aaron Rouse (D), and incorporated it into Aird’s bill,
which will be the main vehicle for the reform this session.

The overall legislation, which next heads to the Senate Courts of Justice
Committee, will help to “ensure our communities are safe,” Rouse told the
committee on Friday.

“In recent years we’ve seen an unchecked proliferation of illegal and
unregulated marijuana stores,” he said. “This has put Virginias at risk as
unlicensed drug dealers sells billions of dollars of untested and untaxed
products, frequently to children. A well-regulated marijuana retail market
is a necessity for public safety and would ensure that products are tested
for safety, that they are accurately labeled, sold in a controlled
environment and kept away from kids.”

On the House side, members of the General Laws Subcommittee are also slated
to hold a hearing on Friday afternoon on a marijuana sales legalization
bill from Del. Paul Krizek (D), who chaired the joint commission that
produced the regulatory recommendations. That legislation mirrors Aird’s
own bill as filed prior to being amended.

*Here are the key details of the Virginia marijuana sales legalization
legislation:*

- Retail sales could begin on January 1, 2027.
- Adults would be able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a
single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis
products as determined by regulators.
- The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would oversee licensing and
regulation of the new industry. Its board of directors would have the
authority to control possession, sale, transportation, distribution,
delivery and testing of marijuana.
- A tax of up to 11.625 percent would apply to the retail sale of any
cannabis product. That would include a state retail and use tax of 1.125
percent on top of a new marijuana-specific tax of 8 percent. Local
governments could levy an additional 3.5 percent.
- Tax revenue would be split between the costs of administering and
enforcing the state’s marijuana system, a new Cannabis Equity Reinvestment
Fund, pre-kindergarten programs, substance use disorder prevention and
treatment programs and public health programs such as awareness campaigns
designed to prevent drug-impaired driving and discourage underage
consumption.
- Local governments could not opt 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.
- 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. It would also investigate the possibility of the Virginia
Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority becoming involved in marijuana
regulations and enforcement.

Newly sworn-in Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) supports legalizing adult-use
marijuana sales.

“Right now is that we live in this gray space where there’s some legality
to marijuana, there’s some illegality,” she said ahead of 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.”


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policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
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Meanwhile, Virginia lawmakers have filed other marijuana-related
legislation for the 2026 session, including proposals to provide
resentencing relief for people convicted of past cannabis crimes and to let
terminally ill patients use medical marijuana in hospitals and other
healthcare facilities.

Separately, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry recently
published a new outlining workplace protections for cannabis consumers.

The post Virginia Senators Approve Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales Under
New Pro-Reform Governor appeared first on Marijuana Moment.