Marijuana Moment: Virginia Lawmakers Reject Governor’s Amendments To Marijuana Sales Legalization Bill

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Virginia lawmakers on Wednesday voted to reject the governor’s amendments to legislation to legalize recreational marijuana sales, risking a potential veto as the original proposal heads back to her desk for reconsideration.

In a voice vote, the House of Delegates declined to consider Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s (D) suggested changes to the cannabis measure as part of a block with other legislation that the governor also proposed amendments to, effectively rejecting the suggestions. The Senate took similar action in a 21-18 vote.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, also rejected Spanberger’s amendments to separate legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with past marijuana convictions while approving her changes to a bill clarifying cannabis delivery and labeling rules.

Spanberger’s suggested changes to the cannabis commerce legalization measure—including delaying the start date for sales by six months, increasing taxes and instituting new criminal penalties for cannabis consumers—drew strong pushback from reform supporters, including the lawmakers who sponsored the legislation.

Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D) and Del. Paul Krizek (D), who respectively sponsored the Senate and House versions of the cannabis sales legalization bills, both told Marijuana Moment ahead of Wednesday’s reconvened session that they wanted their colleagues to vote against the amendments—even if that meant risking a veto from Spanberger when the measure returns to her desk.

“While the governor and I share the goal of establishing a safe, regulated cannabis market, we differ on how best to achieve it,” Aird said “The substitute moves Virginia in the wrong direction and disregards years of data-driven, bipartisan work and established best practices.”

“As our conversations continue, I urge the governor to reconsider provisions that reintroduce punitive measures undermining the intent of legalization, shift critical elements of the framework into an uncertain regulatory process, and remove essential supports for impact licensees.”

Krizek noted that “a few years ago the legislature took bipartisan steps to end racially discriminatory marijuana policing here in Virginia.”

“But, unfortunately, and probably not intentionally as she has not been involved in this years-long process,” he said, “the governor’s proposed amendments would repeal a number of those decriminalization laws and undermine what has been a thorough, thoughtful, balanced process of drafting this legislation with community and stakeholder engagement that moved us toward this more fair and responsive cannabis regulatory framework.”

“When we legalized cannabis it was with a recognition of the disproportionate harm caused by the war on cannabis, particularly among Black families,” the House lawmaker said. “This bill was intentional in recognizing that, but much of that intentionality is lost with these many amendments.”

If governor vetoes the original proposal as sent back to her desk, lawmakers would have to start with new bills in the 2027 session.

Krizek said he is “hopeful that with more discussion and negotiation we can find a compromise that will maintain” a balance between justice and public safety.

Spanberger, for her part, responded to criticism of her cannabis amendments from the bill sponsors and advocates by saying the suggested changes came after she spoke to the leaders of other states that have already implemented adult-use marijuana markets.

She will now have 30 days to either sign or veto the original legislation as sent back to her, or allow it to become law without her signature.

Personal marijuana possession and home cultivation of marijuana has been legal in Virginia since 2021, but former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) twice vetoed bills to provide consumers with a way to legally purchase regulated adult-use cannabis.

Here are the other key details of the cannabis bills—SB 542 and HB 642—as approved by lawmakers and with the governor’s suggested amendments:

• Lawmakers voted to allow adults to 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. That represents an increase from the limit in current law of 1 ounce. The governor, however, wants the amount increased to only 2 ounces.
• Under the legislature’s plan, legal sales could begin on January 1, 2027, but the governor is proposing to push that back to July 1, 2027.
• Lawmakers voted to impose an excise tax of 6 percent on cannabis sales as well as a 5.3 percent retail sales and use tax, while allowing municipalities to set an additional local tax of up to 3.5 percent. The governor’s plan is largely the same, though it would increase the excise tax to 8 percent starting on July 1, 2029.
• Under the legislation as approved by lawmakers, revenue would be distributed to the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund (30 percent), early childhood education (40 percent), the Department of Behavioral & Developmental Health Services (25 percent) and public health initiatives (5 percent). The governor, however, wants to put all revenue into the general fund while earmarking it “for purposes such as early childhood education, behavioral health, public health awareness, prevention, treatment, and recovery services, workforce development, reentry, indigent criminal defense, and targeted reinvestment in historically disadvantaged communities.”
• The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would oversee licensing and regulation of the new industry, and would also take on oversight of hemp, which is currently under the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
• Local governments could not opt out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area.
• Delivery services would be allowed.
• Serving sizes would be capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package.
• The governor is proposing to make public marijuana use a class 4 criminal misdemeanor instead of civil violation punishable by a $25 fine as under current law. She also wants to make possessing cannabis by people under the age of 21 a class 1 misdemeanor, punishable with a mandatory minimum fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service, as well as the suspension of drivers licenses for at least six months. Illegally selling or distributing 50 pounds or more of marijuana would be a class 2 felony punishable by life in prison.
• The governor is seeking to eliminate support for the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund.
• Existing medical cannabis operators could enter the adult-use market if they pay a licensing conversion fee that is set at $10 million.
• Cannabis businesses would have to establish labor peace agreements with workers.
• As passed by lawmakers, the bill would have directed a legislative commission to study adding on-site consumption licenses and microbusiness cannabis event permits that would allow licensees to conduct sales at venues like farmers markets or pop-up locations, but the governor is proposing to remove that language.

“Governor Spanberger’s substitute bill would have reversed years of progress in Virginia,” JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “Passage of these amendments would have resulted in a return to racially discriminatory marijuana policing across the commonwealth, while also compromising public safety by continuing to drive Virginians to the unregulated market for at least another year.

Meanwhile, Spanberger also suggested significant amendments to separate legislation that would provide resentencing relief to people with prior marijuana convictions, but lawmakers rejected those changes on Wednesday.

As approved by the legislature, HB 26 from Rozia Henson, Jr. (D), along with companion bill SB 62 from Senate President Pro Tem Louise Lucas (D), would create a process by which people who are incarcerated or on community supervision for certain felony offenses involving the possession, manufacture, selling or distribution of marijuana could receive an automatic hearing to consider modification of their sentences.

Under the amendments proposed to the cannabis legislation by Spanberger, however, affected persons would have to proactively file petitions to get the relief instead of having the courts proceed automatically.

Henson had said that while he opposed the changes, he was willing to accept them to make progress on the issue. When the amendments came up for consideration on Wednesday, however, lawmakers declined to take them up, sending the original legislation back to the governor.

Separately, lawmakers did approve Spanberger’s proposed minor changes to HB 391, which clarifies regulations for marijuana delivery services and cannabis product labeling, and her amendments to SB 543, concerning enforcement against sales of cannabis products in violation of state rules.

Meanwhile, the governor signed several other reform bills this month—including measures to protect the parental rights of marijuana consumers and allow patients to access medical cannabis in hospitals.

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