{"id":82133,"date":"2025-07-09T13:06:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T21:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/07\/09\/virginia-government-cannabis-commission-holds-first-meeting-with-focus-on-preparing-retail-sales-legalization-bill-for-next-year\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T19:47:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T03:47:26","slug":"virginia-government-cannabis-commission-holds-first-meeting-with-focus-on-preparing-retail-sales-legalization-bill-for-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/07\/09\/virginia-government-cannabis-commission-holds-first-meeting-with-focus-on-preparing-retail-sales-legalization-bill-for-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Government Cannabis Commission Holds First Meeting, With Focus On Preparing Retail Sales Legalization Bill For Next Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Members of a newly re-established cannabis commission in Virginia<\/a> held an initial meeting on Wednesday, kicking off what\u2019s slated to be months of hearings focused on the future of marijuana in the commonwealth\u2014a process expected to result in a revised proposal to legalize retail sales that lawmakers plan to introduce next session.<\/p>\n

Convened as part of a House joint resolution passed by the legislature earlier this year, the group is charged with gathering public input and making recommendations on an array of policy matters around Virginia\u2019s would-be transition into a full-fledged adult-use commercial cannabis market.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to create a successful approach to cannabis that\u2019s rooted in protecting the public, the principles of restorative justice, economic equity and public health,\u201d Del. Paul Krizek (D), who sponsored the resolution that created the commission as well as past legal sales bills, said at the start of the hearing. \u201cThe idea will be to craft the best bill possible to reintroduce the next session.\u201d<\/p>\n

Use and possession of\u00a0marijuana has been legal in Virginia since 2022<\/a>, but retail sales remain forbidden\u2014a situation that\u2019s helped fuel a multibillion-dollar illicit market. Despite efforts by Democrats in past years to legalize and regulate the retail system,\u00a0Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has stood in the way of the reform, vetoing proposals passed by lawmakers during each of the last two sessions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Youngkin, however, is term-limited and unable to run for re-election in November. The governor\u2019s replacement is likely to decide whether regulated products will become available in the commonwealth in the next few years.<\/p>\n

The panel, formally called the Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Retail Cannabis Market, consists of six lawmakers from the House and four from the Senate. At Wednesday\u2019s meeting, the group first elected a chair and vice chair\u2014Krizek and Sen. Lashrecse D. Aird (D), respectively\u2014and heard an overview of the state\u2019s historical and existing cannabis laws.<\/p>\n

As a starting point for the coming session, Krizek and others have said the plan is to begin with the legislation sent to Youngkin this past session,\u00a0SB 970\u00a0and\u00a0HB 2485. The language in those measures mirrored a proposal also passed by lawmakers the previous year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bill we passed the last two years, with a few small tweaks, is my starting point,\u201d Krizek told Marijuana Moment in an email before the meeting. At the hearing itself, staff walked members through that proposal in considerable detail.<\/p>\n

Some commission members, including those that expressed skepticism of commercial marijuana sales, said they were looking forward to learning more about cannabis and its regulation ahead of next legislative session.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here because my constituents hired me to make the hard decisions, and I\u2019m here to learn everything about both sides,\u201d said Sen. Christine New Craig (R), \u201cand I want to make sure we do it correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission is set to have three more meetings this year, with the next scheduled for August 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll continue to meet through July 1, 2028, when this commission expires,\u201d Krizek said.<\/p>\n

Among the goals in legalizing and regulating retail marijuana sales, Krizek said, are to generate revenue for community reinvestment, create new small and local businesses, strengthen the state\u2019s agricultural sector, address racial inequities in cannabis enforcement, protect public health and increase state funding for pre-K education.<\/p>\n

Other issues that members of the commission<\/a> brought up at Wednesday\u2019s meeting included adjustments to the state\u2019s medical marijuana system, regulation of the consumable hemp market and a desire to better understand matters like product potency and potential dangers of driving under the influence.<\/p>\n

Krizek said a main goal the group\u2019s meetings will be to gather public input about what matters in a legal retail marijuana market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I really love about being on this commission, I think, is that we\u2019re going to have a lot of opportunity to get to generate some public input\u2014from the stakeholders and from the general public\u2014and do it without being pressured for time and get a really good bill through for next year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To that end, the panel concluded Wednesday\u2019s meeting with just over 30 minutes of public comment, from speakers who overwhelmingly emphasized their interests in promoting a competitive, accessible industry with workable regulations for small and equity-owned businesses.<\/p>\n

Marijuana Justice, an organization that prioritizes equity and community reinvestment, has called for the state\u2019s legal marijuana framework to create a market that\u2019s \u201cequitable, competitive, and sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the group\u2019s priorities include prioritizing equity in business licensing and program participation, providing applicants with access to capital investment and financial support, working to prevent monopolization of the industry and investing revenue from legal marijuana in communities disproportionately impacted by prohibition.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the commission, Chelsea Higgs Wise, the group\u2019s founder and executive director, offered \u201ccontinued support\u201d to lawmakers around matters such as how to prevent the adult-use market from being dominated by just a few large companies. She said Virginia\u2019s legal framework should adopt a public health and equity lens.<\/p>\n

Higgs Wise also pointed out that lawmakers have not yet discussed the possibility of social consumption lounges, where adults could legally use marijuana, noting that past bills would allow landlords to prohibit renters from using cannabis in their units. And she warned against the early adoption of unproven roadside impairment tests, which could perpetuate racial disparities in marijuana arrests.<\/p>\n

Damian Fagon, a former New York State cannabis regulator who\u2019s now the executive leadership fellow at the advocacy nonprofit Parabola Center, encouraged members to learn lessons from New York and other states that have set up licensing structures that prevent a single entity from controlling the entire supply chain, from seed to sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirginia has an incredible advantage of hindsight,\u201d Fagon said. \u201cYou can see how allowing a single company to control everything from seed to sale leads to markets with fewer consumer choices [and] little to no diversity in ownership or small business access.<\/p>\n

He urged the panel \u201cto build Virginia\u2019s market on this proven two-tier foundation\u201d and \u201cmandate the separation of producers and retailers.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirginia has the opportunity to create the most equitable and prosperous cannabis market in the American South,\u201d Fagon said. \u201cA two-tier system is the only way to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fagon earlier this month published an op-ed in Marijuana Moment warning that the corporate tobacco industry is working to prioritize their own business and financial interests in cannabis reform over public health and consumer needs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sen. Adam Ebbin (D) reminded the panel at Wednesday\u2019s hearing \u201cto not lose sight of our overall mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard a lot of good information, a lot of points from some experts,\u201d Ebbin said near the close of the meeting, but he emphasized that \u201cwe know that marijuana is being sold in this commonwealth, and thanks to Gov. Youngkin\u2019s veto pen, the way it\u2019s being sold is with illegal, untaxed enterprises.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to move sales away from the illegal market on the street corner to behind an age-verified counter with a tested product,\u201d the senator continued, \u201cand I think that\u2019s a goal that most of the members of this commission share. How we do it is, you know, a significant charge that will have to resolve over the coming meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n

In separate comments to Marijuana Moment at the end of the hearing, JM Pedini, executive director for Virginia NORML and development director at NORML\u2019s national organization, stressed the importance of voters electing a governor who\u2019s open to cannabis reform. Regardless of what lawmakers put in a legal sales bill, an executive who opposes the reform\u00a0could keep cannabis commerce illegal for years to come<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important consideration for any Virginian interested in participating in the adult-use market\u2014either as a consumer or a business\u2014is their vote this November,\u201d Pedini said. \u201cIf Virginians fail to elect a governor who has committed to signing an adult-use retail measure, then they will not again have the opportunity to legalize sales until 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Blanchette, president of the Virginia Cannabis Association (VCA), was initially skeptical of the need for the commission, telling Marijuana Moment in an interview last month that the group didn\u2019t plan to participate. He said at the time that VCA was focused on reintroducing the same bill that lawmakers sent to Youngkin in the past two years.<\/p>\n

But Blanchette was present at Wednesday\u2019s commission meeting<\/a>. He told Marijuana Moment that he\u2019s recently \u201cformed a much more positive opinion on the group,\u201d in part because he\u2019s been reassured that members are set to use the past bill as a \u201cstarting basis\u201d for any new proposed legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t actually think I\u2019d find myself up here today,\u201d he told the commission, thanking members for their engagement. \u201cWords do matter. And this bill\u2014the current form of this bill\u2014has passed twice. It\u2019s just been vetoed twice by the governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Youngkin has also stood in the way of more incremental reforms. In May, for example, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed deliveries of medical marijuana directly to patients at locations other than their own homes<\/a>. It would have also updated product labeling requirements so packaging would more clearly indicate THC and CBD levels.<\/p>\n

In March, after the legislature passed the legislation, Youngkin recommended an amendment that would\u00a0remove language to allow marijuana to be delivered to places other than a patient\u2019s private residence<\/a>. Lawmakers later declined to make that change, however, and\u00a0sent the unamended bill back to the governor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The proposal had strong support in both chambers, passing the Senate on a 30\u201310 vote and winning final approval in the House on an 84\u201314 margin. But Youngkin nevertheless rejected it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile accurate labeling is essential to ensure patients receive consistent and safe medical cannabis,\u201d he wrote in a veto message,\u00a0 \u201cthis bill would codify the ability to deliver medical cannabis to commercial businesses and temporary residences, raising public safety and regulatory concerns. Permitting deliveries to businesses\u2014including locations where substance abuse, gambling, or other high-risk activities may occur\u2014creates unnecessary risks for diversion, theft, and unintended access by minors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pedini at NORML described the veto at the time as \u201cyet another example of the attacks on legal cannabis and responsible consumers<\/a>\u00a0that are underway across the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Youngkin in March also vetoed a host of other drug reform proposals passed by lawmakers, including\u00a0the legal sales bill<\/a>\u00a0and another to\u00a0authorize the prescription of a synthetic form of psilocybin as soon as the federal government authorizes its use<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beyond the legal sales and psilocybin bills, the governor also\u00a0rejected a number of other cannabis-related reforms this session<\/a>, including efforts to resentence people serving time for cannabis offenses and protect the parental rights of those who legally use the drug.<\/p>\n

Youngkin agued in a veto statement that legalizing sales of adult-use marijuana \u201cendangers Virginians\u2019 health and safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStates following this path have seen adverse effects on children\u2019s and adolescents\u2019 health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far exceed tax revenue,\u201d the governor claimed. \u201cIt also does not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even before the start of the current legislative session, Youngkin\u2019s office had\u00a0signaled it had no interest in the reform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Asked by Virginia Public Media (VPM) late last year about the likelihood of a veto, Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the Youngkin, told the outlet: \u201cI think you can cite the fact that time and time again he has been very clear on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reform advocates are already watching to see where his\u00a0possible replacements stand on legalization and other cannabis policy changes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two frontrunners for the position\u2014Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger\u2014have starkly different views on the reform.<\/p>\n

Earle-Sears recently echoed Youngkin\u2019s views, saying of legalization: \u201cThere\u2019s no hope in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also said marijuana is a gateway drug and that she fired a previous employee for using it.<\/p>\n

Spanberger, meanwhile, voiced support for a regulated retail market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a formalized, legal, emerging cannabis market,\u201d she said. \u201cWe also need to make sure that [tax] revenues flow into Virginia and are used to strengthen our communities and public schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Virginia Government Cannabis Commission Holds First Meeting, With Focus On Preparing Retail Sales Legalization Bill For Next Year<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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Members of a newly re-established cannabis commission in Virginia held an initial meeting on Wednesday, kicking off what\u2019s slated to be months of hearings focused on the future of marijuana in the commonwealth\u2014a process expected to result in a revised proposal to legalize retail sales that lawmakers plan to introduceContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82134,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82133\/revisions\/82134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}