Virginia Senate Passes Legal Marijuana Sales Bill On Party-Line Vote Amid Veto Threat From GOP Governor

The Virginia Senate on Friday approved along party lines a bill that would license and regulate retail marijuana in the commonwealth, establishing a system of stores that would go online mid-next year.

The chamber narrowly passed the measure, SB 970 from Sen. Aaron Rouse (D), on a 21–19 vote. Not one Republican voted for the measure, and not one Democrat voted against it.

If enacted, the legislation would allow adults 21 and older to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana from regulated, state-licensed retailers. Sales would begin no earlier than May 1, 2026, though regulators at the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority could begin issuing business licenses in September of this year.

Purchases of adult-use marijuana would be taxed at up to 11.625 percent. Municipal governments could ban marijuana establishments locally, but only with the support of voters. Possession and home cultivation of marijuana is already legal in the state.

A companion bill, HB 2485 from Del. Paul Krizek (D), has passed out of House committees and is awaiting votes on the chamber floor.

Use, possession and limited cultivation of cannabis by adults are already legal in Virginia, the result of a Democrat-led proposal approved by lawmakers in 2021. But Republicans, after winning control of the House and governor’s office later that year, subsequently blocked the required reenactment of a regulatory framework for retail sales. Since then, illicit stores have sprung up to meet consumer demand, feeding an illegal market that some estimates value at nearly $3 billion.

“In recent years, we’ve seen the unchecked proliferation of illegal and unregulated marijuana stores that has put Virginians at risk as unlicensed drug dealers sell billions of dollars of untested and untaxed products, and frequently to children,” Rouse told colleagues on the Senate floor on Friday, noting that his bill would “ensure that products are tested for safety, accurately labeled, sold in a controlled environment and kept away from kids.”

“SB 970 establishes a regulatory framework for adult use of marijuana through a structured license application process,” the sponsor added. “This bill prioritizes public safety and creating a well regulated marketplace that keeps adult products out of the hands of kids.”

Last year the legislature passed a nearly identical legal sales proposal, but it was later vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). It’s widely expected that even if the reintroduced bill passes out of the legislature, Youngkin will once again veto it.

Here’s what Virginia’s reintroduced marijuana sales legislation, SB 970 and HB 2485, would do:

• Retail sales could begin as of May 1, 2026.
• 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.
• 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 2.5 percent.
• 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.
• Local governments could ban marijuana establishments, but only if voters approve an opt-out referendum.
• Locations of retail outlets could not be within 1,000 feet of another marijuana retailer.
• Cultivators would be regulated by space devoted to marijuana cultivation, known as canopy size. Both indoor and outdoor marijuana cultivation would be allowed, though only growers in lower tiers—with lower limits on canopy size—could grow plants outside. Larger growers would need to cultivate plants indoors. Secure greenhouses would qualify as indoor cultivation.
• Only direct, face-to-face transactions would be permitted. The legislation would prohibit the use of other avenues, such as vending machines, drive-through windows, internet-based sales platforms and delivery services.
• Existing medical marijuana providers that enter the adult-use market could apply to open up to five additional retail establishments, which would need to be colocated at their existing licensed facilities.
• Serving sizes would be capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package.
• No person could be granted or hold an interest in more than five total licenses, not including transporter licenses.
• People with convictions for felonies or crimes involving moral turpitude within the past seven years would be ineligible to apply for licensing, as would employees of police or sheriff’s departments if they’re responsible for enforcement of the penal, traffic or motor vehicle laws of the commonwealth.
• An equity-focused microbusiness program would grant licenses to entities at least two-thirds owned and directly controlled by eligible applicants, which include people with past cannabis misdemeanors, family members of people with past convictions, military veterans, individuals who’ve lived at least three of the past five years in a “historically economically disadvantaged community,” people who’ve attended schools in those areas and individuals who received a federal Pell grant or attended a college or university where at least 30 percent of students are eligible for Pell grants.
• A “historically economically disadvantaged community” is defined as an area that has recorded marijuana possession offenses at or above 150 percent of the statewide average between 2009 and 2019.
• Tax revenue from the program would first cover the costs of administering and enforcing the state’s cannabis system. After that, 60 percent of remaining funds would go toward supporting the state’s Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, 25 percent would fund substance use disorder treatment and prevention, 10 percent would go to pre-K programs for at-risk children and 5 percent would fund a public health and awareness campaign.
• Adults could also share up to 2.5 ounces with other adults without financial remuneration, though gray-market “gifting” of marijuana as part of another transaction would be punishable as a Class 2 misdemeanor and a Class 1 misdemeanor on second and subsequent offenses.
• A number of other new criminal penalties would be created. Knowingly selling or giving marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia to someone under 21, for example, would be a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum $2,500 fine, as would knowingly selling cannabis to someone reasonably believed to be intoxicated. It would also be a Class 1 misdemeanor to advertise the sale of marijuana paraphernalia to people under 21.
• Knowingly obtaining marijuana on behalf of someone under 21 would be a Class 1 misdemeanor.
• People under 21 who possess or use marijuana, or attempt to obtain it, would be subject to a civil penalty of no more than $25 and ordered to enter a substance use disorder treatment and/or education program.
• Illegal cultivation or manufacture of marijuana, not including legal homegrow, would be a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $2,500 fine.
• People could process homegrown marijuana into products such as edibles, but butane extraction or the use of other volatile solvents would be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

While the current legislation is nearly identical to what Virginia’s legislature sent to the governor last year, Sen. Adam Ebbin (D)—a legalization supporter and a sponsor of the state’s existing cannabis law—noted before Friday’s vote that it differs slightly from past legalization bills, including what lawmakers passed in 2021 and the language originally introduced last session.

Specifically, he called out reduced funding in the current bill for pre-kindergarten programs, which he said are in dire need of more support.

“This is going to be a while before this bill finally makes it through the process,” Ebbin said, “but I would hope that whatever is finally adopted, whether it’s a conference report or if it doesn’t make it through this year, that we don’t tinker with the formula, because we have a strong need for pre-K, and it benefits a lot of kids in at-risk communities.”

“Overall,” he added, “I ask that we do support the bill.”

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Despite the party-line Senate vote on Friday, Krizek told Marijuana Moment last month that it’s possible some Republican lawmakers might challenge Youngkin’s opposition to legal cannabis sales given that the governor’s term ends early next year.

Advocates hope Youngkin’s replacement will be more favorable to regulated sales, noting that a handful of Republican leaders in some other states have been more open to marijuana reform.

Jason Blanchette, president of the Virginia Cannabis Association, told Marijuana Moment earlier this month that he expects Youngkin would again veto a legal sales bill if it reaches his desk this session, but added that it’s nevertheless important that lawmakers take up the matter.

“We’ve got one more year of Youngkin, and then if we can get it out, get it on his desk, that’ll be two times the Democrats have gotten the exact same bill through,” he said. “The feeling is that’ll set some very strong precedent for the next governor.”

Separately this week, legislative panels in the state advanced proposals that would seal records related to marijuana and begin planning access to psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans.

An amendment to the record-sealing legislation adopted in the committee’s Resources Subcommittee moved the enactment date of the proposal to July 1, 2026, which staff said was intended to allow Virginia State Police to implement the change.

As for the psychedelics proposal, a Senate committee unanimously approved a substitute version of SB 1101 from Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D). As introduced, it would would have created a fund to support clinical trials involving veterans and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-designated “breakthrough therapies,” including psychedelic substances such as psilocybin and MDMA.

The substitute version of the bill removed references to the fund, leaving only a portion of the proposal that would establish a six-member state advisory council to study and make further recommendations about the therapies, potentially in advance of a broader compassionate use program. A report from the council would be due to lawmakers and the governor by December 1, 2026.

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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

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