Virginia Legislation to Legalize Marijuana Sale Clears Committee, with Senate Floor Vote Next – MedCAN24

The Virginia Senate and House of Delegates have both presented a bill on Tuesday to legalize the retail sale of marijuana, which is already allowed for personal possession and use.

Members of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee (SFAC) voted 10–5 in favor of advancing the measure, which now proceeds to the Senate floor. On the House side, members of the full General Laws Committee also signed off on that chamber’s version of the bill, voting 14–8 to send it to the House Appropriations Committee.

The legislation, if passed, would permit adults aged 21 or older to buy up to 2,5 ounces (60 grams) of marijuana at state-licensed, regulated retailers. Sales will not start before May 1, 2020, although the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority can issue business licenses as soon as this September.

Taxes on purchases of marijuana for adult use could reach up to 11.625%. Local governments can ban marijuana shops, but they must have voter support.

There’s a general expectation that, even if the Reform from Del. Paul Krizek, a Democrat, and Senator Aaron Rouse are both Democrats. If the reform passes through the Legislature, Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) will veto it. Glenn Youngkin, R. will again veto this bill.

Last year the two lawmakers presented competing versions of a legal sales framework, ultimately arriving at a compromise that passed the legislature, but that was vetoed by the governor.

The legislature left the ground unfinished. SB 970 and H 2485 continue where they stopped.

Earlier Tuesday, the SFAC Resources Subcommittee approved Rouse’s by voice vote. It was then sent to the entire panel, where it received approval shortly thereafter.

Before the vote, the sponsor informed subcommittees that “the bill establishes an adult retail marijuana market in Virginia.”

Rouse reiterated a common talking point of reformers, “This bill doesn’t legalize marijuana.” It is bipartisan to curb and reduce the illicit marijuana market, and eliminate it while providing income for our localities.

Krizek said, in a speech to the House General Laws Committee on Tuesday evening, that the proposal “establishes a regulatory frame work for the establishment of retail adult-use cannabis market within the Commonwealth, which will be managed by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, the lawmakers only briefly described the bills in their respective chambers. They did not debate or discuss them.

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

• Retail sales can begin on May 1, 2026.
• Adults could purchase up 2.5 ounces or equivalent cannabis products in one single transaction.
• Retail sales of cannabis products would be subject to a tax up to 11.625%. The state would impose a tax on retail sales and usage of 1.125 per cent, in addition to the 8 percent marijuana tax. Local governments may impose an additional tax of 2.5 percent.
• Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (VCCA) would regulate and license the industry. His board of directors will have authority over the testing and possession of marijuana, as well as its sale, transportation, distribution, and delivery.
• Local governments can ban marijuana establishments if the voters agree to an opt-out vote.
• The locations of marijuana retailers cannot be located within 1,000 feet from another retailer.
• The canopy size would determine how much space is allocated to marijuana. 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. Plants would have to be grown indoors by larger growers. Indoor cultivation would include secure greenhouses.
• All transactions must be direct and face-toface. Other avenues such as drive-through windows and vending machine, online sales platforms, or delivery services would be prohibited.
• Existing providers of medical marijuana who enter the adult market can apply for up to five retail outlets, all located at their licensed facility.
• The maximum serving size would be 10 milligrams of THC. This means that no package could contain more than 100mg THC.
• The total number of licenses a person can hold is limited to five, including the transporter licences.
• In the case of people who’ve been convicted for felonies and crimes with moral turpitude in the past seven year, they would not be eligible to apply for a license. This would also include employees from police or sheriff departments, especially if the department is responsible for enforcing the criminal, traffic, or motor vehicle law of the Commonwealth.
• The equity-focused program will grant licenses for entities that are at least 2/3 owned by and controlled directly by the eligible applicants. This includes people with previous cannabis misdemeanors and their family members, veterans and people who have lived in “historically economically challenged communities” at least 3 out of 5 years, people who attended school in these areas, and people who were awarded a Pell Grant or who attended colleges or universities where 30 percent or more of students qualify.
• In order to be considered a “historically economically challenged community”, a place must have marijuana possession offences that are at least 150 percent higher than the state average from 2009-2019.
• The tax revenue generated by the program will first be used to cover costs associated with administering and enforcing California’s cannabis laws. After this, 60% of the remaining funds will be used to support the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund. 25% would then go toward substance abuse treatment and prevention. 10% would go for pre-K programs and 5% would fund an awareness and public health campaign.
• The gray market “gifting” (or transfer of marijuana) of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in the context of another purchase would result in a class 2 misdemeanor, and on a second or subsequent offence a class 1 misdemeanor.
• There would be a number of new criminal punishments. Selling or giving marijuana, or paraphernalia, to anyone under 21 would, for instance, be punishable with up to one year in prison and maximum fine of $2,500, just as selling cannabis to someone who is reasonably suspected to be drunk would. A Class 1 misdemeanor would be to promote the sale or distribution of marijuana paraphernalia for people younger than 21.
• The Class 1 Misdemeanor for knowingly procuring marijuana in the name of anyone under 21 is a misdemeanor.
• Under 21s who use or possess marijuana or try to get it would face a $25 civil penalty and be ordered to attend a treatment program for substance abuse disorders.
• The illegal cultivation of marijuana (excluding legal homegrown) would constitute a Class 6-felony punishable with up to 5 years in prison and $2,500.
• Homegrown marijuana could be processed into edibles. However, the use of butane or other volatile solvents is punishable by a misdemeanor class 1.

Krizek told MEDCAN24 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. The advocates hope that the replacement governor will be more open-minded to legalized sales. They note that some Republican officials in other states are more open to reform.

Jason Blanchette of the Virginia Cannabis Association told MEDCAN24 in early October that he believes Youngkin will again veto a law regulating legal marijuana sales if they reach his desk. But he added that lawmakers should still take this issue seriously.

He said that Youngkin’s term in office is ending early next year. “We have one more year with him, but if we get the bill out and on his desk it will be the second time the Democrats got the same bill passed,” he added. The feeling is it will set a very strong precedent to the next Governor.

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Youngkin also rejected minor cannabis during the last legislative session. He vetoed a proposal, for example, that would have prevented the state from considering marijuana use alone as evidence of child abuse or neglect despite the measure winning unanimous or near-unanimous approval in votes on the Senate floor.

Del. Rae Cousins (D), the bill’s sponsor, accused the governor of “turning his back on the needs of our children and neglecting their well-being by encouraging the courts to move forward with unnecessary family separations.”

Separately, last April, Virginia Health Commissioner Karen Shelton said her agency had received a sufficient number of reports of minors getting sick from cannabis products that the commonwealth would create a “special surveillance system” to track the issue.

Separately this session, on Thursday a Virginia Senate committee advanced legislation that would fund clinical trials involving veterans and “breakthrough therapies” as designated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including psychedelic substances such as psilocybin and MDMA.

The new bill references the FDA breakthrough therapy designation and the federal Right to Try Act—intended to give patients with terminal conditions the opportunity to try investigational medications that have not been approved for general use—as well as a number of conditions that research shows psychedelics may help treat, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatment-resistant depression, major depressive disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Earlier this week, meanwhile, senators also advanced legislation that would seal criminal records pertaining to simple marijuana possession offenses and revise the state’s record-sealing process around cannabis paraphernalia crimes. Panel members also rejected a proposal to allow law enforcement officers to search based on the smell of marijuana.

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Philip Steffan provided the photo.