Both Chambers Of Virginia’s Legislature Have Now Voted To Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales

With a vote on Tuesday by Virginia’s House of Delegates, both chambers of the legislature have now passed bills that would legalize and regulate recreational marijuana sales in the commonwealth.

House members voted 53–46 to approve HB 2485, from Del. Paul Krizek (D), which would allow adults 21 and older to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana from regulated, state-licensed retailers. The vote comes after the Senate last week approved companion legislation, SB 970, from Sen. Aaron Rouse (D).

Each bill now proceeds to the opposite chamber for consideration there.

Even if lawmakers give final approval to the legislation, however, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has indicated he plans to veto it, as he did last year with nearly identical legislation.

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.

“I want my friends across the aisle to know that it’s time for the state to put this $3 billion illegal cannabis market to sleep,” Krizek said before a procedural vote on his bill on Monday. “We need competition from a safe, tested and taxed product.”

Advocates echoed that point following the House vote on Tuesday.

“The House and Senate moving in sync demonstrate the critical need for this move towards public heath and safety,” Julie O’Brien, policy coordinator for Marijuana Justice, said in a statement to Marijuana Moment. “We are pleased to be part of the process and also look forward to participating in the reinstated Cannabis Commission that will meet from this summer until 2026 session.”

Despite the likelihood of Youngkin’s veto, many feel it’s essential that supporters of regulated sales continue to push the issue.

Jason Blanchette, president of the Virginia Cannabis Association, told Marijuana Moment last month, for example, that while he expects Youngkin to veto any legal sales bill that reaches his desk this session, it’s nevertheless important that lawmakers are prepared to move forward under the next governor. Youngkin’s term ends this year, and voters will choose his replacement in November.

“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,” Blanchette said. “The feeling is that’ll set some very strong precedent for the next governor.”

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.

Earlier this week, the full Senate unanimously passed a separate bill that would pave the way for psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans. It next goes to the House of Delegates.

SB 1101, from Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D), would establish a six-member state advisory council to study and make further recommendations about treatments involving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-designated “breakthrough therapies,” including substances such as psilocybin and MDMA.

As introduced by Hashmi last month, the bill would have also created a fund to support clinical trials into breakthrough therapy treatments for veterans, but a substitute adopted in committee last week removed references to that fund, leaving only the portion of the proposal that would create the advisory council.

“That particular substitute really pares the bill down to create within the Department of Health the Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Advisory Council,” Hashmi said before the floor vote on Monday. “One thing that we know is that veteran suicide remains a critical crisis point, with rates significantly higher among veterans than the civilian population. Given the fact that we have such a high veteran community here in Virginia, this legislation is especially necessary.”

“Veterans, as we know, are disproportionately affected by conditions such as PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, major depressive disorder and traumatic brain injury,” the lawmaker added. “What we have seen is compelling research coming from a variety of research institutions, such as Johns Hopkins, that points to the fact that treatment through psilocybin has been effective in addressing a lot of these issues.”

The measure is an updated version of a similar proposal last year, SB 229, that cleared the Senate but didn’t make it out of the House.

Last week, meanwhile, lawmakers advanced proposals that would seal records related to marijuana. An amendment to the record-sealing legislation 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.

GOP Congressman Seeks To Undermine Marijuana Rescheduling Process With Amendment To Fentanyl Bill

The post Both Chambers Of Virginia’s Legislature Have Now Voted To Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales appeared first on Marijuana Moment.