Virginia Legislature Passes Cannabis Sales Bill

The Virginia General Assembly last week passed a conference bill to legalize adult-use cannabis sales in the state, VPM News reports.

The House and Senate passed competing cannabis sales bills last month, and a committee of lawmakers has been working on a consolidated proposal since. The proposal passed mostly on party lines through both chambers on Friday, the last day of the legislative session.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) is expected to sign the bill, having stated during her campaign last year that she would sign a cannabis sales bill if she were elected governor.

The bill uses the Senate version’s start date of January 1, 2027. Under the proposal, retail cannabis sales would be taxed at 6%, with the option for a local tax from 1% to up to 3.5% — language from the House bill.

The bill also increases the possession limit from 1 ounce to 2.5 ounces, and caps the number of cannabis retail licenses in the state at 350. Municipalities will not be allowed to opt out of sales, and cannabis tax revenue would be reserved for child care programs and the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund.

The bill also creates new misdemeanors and felony offenses for unlicensed cannabis cultivation and sales.

Under the proposed law, the state Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) will issue licenses and regulate the industry, while the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) will handle enforcement of illegal operations. The bill would also make the CCA a division of the ABC by 2028, and the agency would become the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Cannabis Control Authority.

Virginia first legalized the adult possession and home cultivation of cannabis in 2021. But when lawmakers passed follow-up legislation to establish an adult-use marketplace in 2024, then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed the proposal. He also vetoed similar legislation in the next session.