Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger is calling upon lawmakers to drastically amend legislation regulating the retail sale of cannabis for adults 21 and older and providing resentencing relief for those with eligible cannabis-related convictions.
Proposed amendments to the legislation (Senate Bill 542 and House Bill 642) seek to repeal multiple provisions of the state’s decriminalization and legalization laws, reinstituting steep criminal penalties for public consumption and automatically revoking drivers’ licenses of young people who purchase marijuana, among other changes.
Gov. Spanberger is also proposing a delay to the start date for the retail cannabis sales from until July 1, 2027. NORML objects to the amendments, which lawmakers will take up when they reconvene on April 22.
Virginia enacted legislation in 2021 legalizing the use, possession, and personal cultivation of marijuana by adults. That legislation called upon lawmakers to approve retail sales in a subsequent 2022 vote. However, when Republicans gained control of the House and 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.
In an op-ed published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Friday, NORML’s Development Director JM Pedini called on the Governor to avoid any further delays. “Five years after Virginia lawmakers first approved legalization, there still exists no regulated cannabis sales system outside of the [state-licensed] medical program,” they wrote. “Any delay in implementation continues to drive consumers to the illicit market, jeopardizes public safety and delays the tools needed by law enforcement and regulators to address these concerns.”
Following the Governor’s decision last night, Pedini, who also serves as Executive Director of Virginia NORML, added: “Further delaying legal retail sales is just another page from the prohibitionist playbook, the kind of policy failure Virginians saw under Glenn Youngkin, not what they expect from Abigail Spanberger. Let’s be clear about what July 1, 2027 means for Virginia: another entire year of driving Virginians to the illicit market, endangering communities, undermining public safety and not keeping marijuana out of the hands of youth.”
Governor Spanberger also proposed amendments to separate legislation, SB 62 | HB 26, which seeks to provide sentencing relief to those convicted of eligible marijuana-related felony offenses. Specifically, the Governor’s office opposes language in the bill making the resentencing process automatic and imposing specific deadlines upon the courts.
Similar resentencing reform efforts, including those championed by Republicans, were defeated in every year of former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s term.
Gov. Spanberger did sign into law legislation (SB 332 | HB 75) explicitly allowing medical cannabis use in hospital settings and (HB 942) protecting the parental rights of adults who lawfully possess or consume cannabis. Governor Youngkin had vetoed similar legislation codifying parental rights in 2024 and 2025.
“This is a significant victory for Virginia parents who consume cannabis responsibly,” JM Pedini said. “It’s taken seven legislative sessions to secure these most basic protections and prevent courts from needlessly separating children from their families.”
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