Lawmakers formally adopted legislation today regulating the adult-use cannabis retail market.
NORML and Virginia NORML were instrumental to the bill’s passage, working closely with lawmakers and generating thousands of communications from voters to the Governor’s office in support of the measure.
NORML’s Development Director JM Pedini, who also serves as the Executive Director of Virginia NORML, said: “Virginia voters have made clear for years that they want a regulated retail cannabis market. With this budget agreement, the Commonwealth has taken an important step toward aligning state law with public opinion and replacing an unregulated marketplace with one that better serves consumers, strengthens public safety, and provides clear rules for businesses, regulators, and local communities.”
Market regulations were included in budget legislation approved by the Senate and the House of Delegates. Passage came days after lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger agreed to revisions in the bill. The governor had previously vetoed a stand-alone version of the bill. Her veto elicited significant pushback from Democratic lawmakers and voters, some 60 percent of whom support permitting retail marijuana sales statewide.
Under the measure, state-licensed retailers will begin selling cannabis products to those age 21 or older on July 1, 2027. Up to 350 retailers will be licensed to engage in marijuana sales. Retail products will be subject to a six percent sales tax. Tax revenue will be allocated to fund early childhood care and education programs, substance abuse treatment, and other public health programs.
“Today, with the passage of the biennium budget, Virginia has formally adopted its adult-use cannabis retail marketplace,” said Sen. Lashrecse Aird, who patroned the retail sales measure in the Senate. “Countless leaders paved the way for this moment, and too many Virginians have experienced real consequences because of our delay in establishing this market. Now, that changes. While our framework is not perfect, it protects consumers, supports small businesses, and creates real economic opportunity.”
She added, “Like the first steps we took years ago, today’s action is another milestone in a long journey as we continue to build, strengthen, and support a safe, responsive, and successful cannabis marketplace.”
Said House patron, Del. Paul Krizek, “Starting next July, we will finally have a Virginia adult-use cannabis marketplace — one that is regulated, competitive, taxed, tested, enforced, and open to both big and small businesses, impact licensees, and microbusinesses, that will now have a real chance to succeed.”
Passage of the legislation comes five years after Virginia lawmakers initially legalized the use, possession, and personal cultivation of marijuana by adults. That legislation called upon politicians to approve retail sales in a subsequent 2022 vote. However, when Republicans gained control of the House and the governorship in 2022, they failed to advance legislation to do so. After Democrats regained the House, their 2024 and 2025 legislative efforts to regulate retail sales were vetoed by former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Provisions in the bill raise the amount of cannabis an adult may possess in public from one to two ounces, but they also raise fines associated with public use to $250. NORML and other advocacy groups continue to push back on penalty increase, opining that excessive fines “create debt that low-income people cannot afford and can trigger cascading harms in immigration, housing, education and employment.”
“NORML remains deeply concerned by the decision to increase the penalty for public cannabis consumption,” Pedini added. “Legalization should move Virginia away from discriminatory punitive approaches to marijuana, not create new opportunities for continued criminalization. Policymakers should be focused on transitioning consumers to a regulated marketplace, not increasing penalties for adult conduct involving a legal substance.”
The measure also amends regulations governing the sale of certain hemp-derived products, among other changes.
Additional information is available from Virginia NORML.
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