Virginia lawmakers have again, as last session, passed a law to legalize the retail sale of cannabis. Like last year, the governor has vetoed it. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, has vetoed the bill again.
Youngkin, the Virginian official who rejected the bill officially on Monday, said in his veto that it “endangers the health and safety of Virginians.”
The governor said that states following this route have experienced adverse health effects and increased violent crime. They also saw a significant decline in road safety and a decrease in the mental health of children and teenagers. Retail marijuana costs are significant and far outweigh tax revenues. It also doesn’t eliminate illegal black market sales of cannabis nor does it guarantee product safety.
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. After Republicans gained control over the House of Representatives and the Governor’s Office later in the year, they blocked the necessary reenactment for retail sales. In response to consumer demand, illegal stores have opened up in order to satisfy the market. Some estimate that this illicit market is worth nearly $3 billion.
In his veto, the Governor said that “the current illegal cannabis markets in Virginia are pervasive. They’re dangerous.” The governor said that trying to fix the decriminalization of marijuana mistake by establishing a regulated and safe marketplace was an impossible goal. It would be prudent to review the enforcement discrepancies, rather than compounding risks or putting Virginians’ health and safety at risk by increasing the market’s availability.
Youngkin’s Office had already signaled its disinterest in reform before the beginning of this legislative session.
Christian Martinez, the Youngkin’s spokesperson, was asked by Virginia Public Media last year if a veto would be likely. He replied: “I believe you can point to the fact that he is very clear about that.”
If the state Department of Planning and Budget’s veto is upheld, the state would lose out on millions of dollars of state funding for pre-kindergarten, community reinvestment and drug treatment programs.
In fiscal 2026, annual revenue for the government would be estimated at $7.3 million. As the system became more regulated, the figure was expected to rise. The projected annual figure for fiscal year 2031 is $87.84 millions.
Del. Paul Krizek(D) told MEDCAN24 he wasn’t surprised but disappointed at Youngkin veto.
In an email, he said: “I’m sorry but everyone knew it would happen.” I held out a little hope that he’d sign the bill. But it’s clear that the governor doesn’t understand that Virginians are in favor of a safe and well-regulated adult market.
“By vetoing this legislation,” Krizek continued, “Governor Youngkin has once again failed the citizens of Virginia by allowing an already thriving illegal cannabis underground market to persist—and the longer we ignore it the more difficult it will be to combat the proliferation of illicit products, which are an even greater risk to public safety.”
Advocates, however, claim that the veto places politics above policy.
In an email, JM Pedini told MEDCAN24 that Governor Youngkin had prioritized personal politics above public safety by choosing to leave the control of Virginia’s marijuana market in the hands unregulated operators.
Pedini continued, “This sensible legislation would’ve removed marijuana from smoke shops and corner stores. It also legalized the sale of cannabis to those over 21 in licensed dispensaries.” Pedini said that these vetoes would have put the safety and health of adults and children at risk, while protecting only the illegal market, which has grown during his tenure in office.”
Both Krizek, and Senator Aaron Rouse (D), who sponsored the bill for legalized sales of cannabis in New York State last year, had their own ideas about how to achieve this. The two plans eventually merged to form a compromise that was adopted by the lawmakers, but Youngkin vetoed it.
In his veto at that time, Governor McDonnell wrote: “The proposed legalization for retail marijuana in Virginia endangers Virginians’ health and security.”
In this year’s legislative session, the plan was introduced again.
Here’s what Virginia’s marijuana sales legislation, SB 970 and HB 2485, would have done:
- 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.
The legal marijuana sales bills were a handful of cannabis-related proposals that lawmakers sent to Youngkin’s desk this year. By law, the governor has 30 days to act on a bill once it reaches his desk. He can either sign it into law, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.
Lawmakers will reconvene on April 2 to consider overturning any vetoes.
Some other drug policy bills fell short this session before reaching Youngkin, including one that would have paved the way for psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans. That measure, despite being passed unanimously by Virginia’s Senate, was shelved by a legislative committee last month.
Yet another bill will take effect without action from the governor: a House joint resolution to re-establish a commission of lawmakers who would study and oversee the state’s implementation of marijuana laws—what’s seen by some as an indication the legislature is intent on future action around cannabis.
With Youngkin unable to run for re-election later this year, his replacement is likely to decide whether regulated products will become available in the commonwealth in the next few years.
HJ 497 will create a joint commission of lawmakers—six from the House, four from the Senate—to study the state’s cannabis system, oversee the implementation of marijuana laws and make recommendations about future legislative changes. It reflects a hope that whoever replaces Youngkin will be more open to a commercial cannabis market.
A similar commission previously existed in the commonwealth, but the law creating that body sunsetted last year, and the group disbanded.
Chelsea Higgs Wise, co-founder and executive director of the group Marijuana Justice, said the resolution’s adoption gives advocates better access to lawmakers “leading up to the next general session to prepare for the adult-use regulation bill.”
“Reestablishing the cannabis oversight commission is critical to review the concerns of all stakeholders,” she said in a statement to MEDCAN24 after the bill’s passage in the legislature. “The commission will offer public testimony and documented discussion on the crafting of the 2026 proposal.”
“After pushing legislation back for years,” she added, “we can deliver Virginia a regulated market with testing, guardrails and opportunity that we deserve.”
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