After years of legislative roadblocks, lawmakers in Virginia came together late Wednesday to send bills allowing adult use cannabis sales to the governor.
But even though Democrats regained control of the House of Delegates in November, and were able to push sales legislation through the General Assembly, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin remains a high final hurdle.
“I just don’t have a lot of interest in pressing forward with marijuana legislation,” Youngkin told reporters in January, when asked about cannabis after his State of the Commonwealth address.
This statement was in line with Youngkin’s reluctance to embrace the adult use cannabis legislation passed by his predecessor, Gov. Ralph Northam, since he took office in 2022. That legislation, which Northam signed in 2021, required lawmakers to take action the following year to enable sales. But when Youngkin took office, and Republicans took control of the House of Delegates, the cannabis reform that Northam’s administration had pushed since 2019 came to a halt.
The landscape today is a situation in which adults can possess and grow their own cannabis, but there is no legal pathway to purchase it. And, as has happened in other states, like New York, unlicensed operators have popped up in Virginia and have found loopholes to sell cannabis to consumers, such as through “gifting,” which involves a consumer buying a random product and then being “gifted” cannabis.
Whether Youngkin will sign, veto, or amend the legislation remains unclear, but backers of the legislation do not have the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
Looking ahead to this moment, Democratic Sen. Adam Ebbin, one of the leading voices on cannabis legalization in the legislature, told Cannabis Wire last year, “The governor certainly showed himself to be an obstacle rather than a constructive participant in the legislative process, but we’re not willing to write him off yet.”
The bills headed to his desk, HB698 and SB448, are a byproduct of months of compromise among lawmakers and industry stakeholders, including both hemp and medical cannabis operators in the state.
If signed into law, cannabis sales would begin on May 1, 2025, and cannabis products would be taxed at 11.625%. Existing medical cannabis operators would be eligible to expand into adult use at that time. Localities could opt-out of sales if their residents vote to do so. As for equity, the legislation would create a microbusiness license type, which has a lower barrier to entry; a person would have to meet certain requirements to apply, such as having a past cannabis conviction.
JM Pedini, development director of NORML and executive director of Virginia NORML, told Cannabis Wire by email that the votes mark an “historic victory” in the state.
“But, what remains to be seen is if Governor Youngkin will agree with the majority of Virginia voters who believe it’s time to take control of the marijuana market away from illicit operators and instead regulate the sale of cannabis at licensed dispensaries where it can be sold only to adults 21 and older,” Pedini said.
