{"id":85314,"date":"2026-02-04T13:45:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T21:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/virginia-senators-approve-bills-to-legalize-marijuana-sales-and-provide-resentencing-relief-to-people-with-prior-convictions\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T19:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T03:46:25","slug":"virginia-senators-approve-bills-to-legalize-marijuana-sales-and-provide-resentencing-relief-to-people-with-prior-convictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/virginia-senators-approve-bills-to-legalize-marijuana-sales-and-provide-resentencing-relief-to-people-with-prior-convictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Senators Approve Bills To Legalize Marijuana Sales And Provide Resentencing Relief To People With Prior Convictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Virginia senators have approved a pair of bills to legalize recreational marijuana sales and provide sentencing relief for people with prior cannabis convictions.<\/p>\n

The Senate Courts of Justice Committee on Wednesday voted to advance the marijuana sales legislation from Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D) in a 9-6 vote. Members also voted 12-TK3to approve the cannabis resentencing measure from Senate President Pro Tem Louise Lucas (D).<\/p>\n

Both measures next head to the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee before potentially reaching the floor.<\/p>\n

Aird told colleagues at Wednesday\u2019s hearing that her bill \u201cestablishes a market that, once and for all, will protect consumers and prioritize health and safety, while ensuring balance to our regulatory structure that ensures legalization is aligned with public health and safety goals and avoids past mistakes embedded in alcohol laws that allow the legal substance to remain a pipeline to criminalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there is an interest in strictly aligning the approach that we take in this legislation to [the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority\u2019s] enforcement structure, but in doing that too closely we do risk building a legal system that still relies on arrests, mandatory fines, mandatory minimums, jail time and felonies for low level conduct,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that approach has failed for alcohol and will fail again for cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The panel adopted several amendments from Sen. Scott Surovell (D), the chair of the panel\u2014over Aird\u2019s objection.<\/p>\n

Among the changes are amendments to \u201cbasically align the penalties for the illegal sale of alcohol with the illegal sale of marijuana,\u201d Surovell said, in addition to one to equate penalties for underage possession of cannabis with those for alcohol.<\/p>\n

Another approved amendment from the chair adds criminal penalties for buying marijuana from an unlicensed seller.<\/p>\n

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Chelsea Higgs Wise of Marijuana Justice testified in support of the overall bill but expressed concerns about the newly adopted criminal amendments, calling them \u201ca step back.\u201d<\/p>\n

A representative of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP similarly said that \u201cif we really want to set our children up for success, we would not be criminalizing them, and rather what we\u2019ll do is figure out how do we support them so that they will make better choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, told Marijuana Moment that the organization is \u201cdeeply concerned by committee members\u2019 efforts to recriminalize cannabis consumers and adopt marijuana mandatory minimums.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s particularly unsettling that as this body is moving to address resentencing for marijuana-related convictions, it is simultaneously entertaining new ways to further criminalize consumers,\u201d Pedini said.<\/p>\n

The passage of the commercial sales bill as amended comes about a week after the House General Laws Committee approved a companion version of the legislation<\/a>, sponsored by Del. Paul Krizek (D).<\/p>\n

As approved in committee, the legislation largely aligns with recommendations released in December by the legislature\u2019s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since legalizing cannabis possession and home cultivation in 2021,\u00a0Virginia lawmakers have worked to establish a commercial marijuana market<\/a>\u2014only to have those efforts consistently stalled under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who twice vetoed measures to enact it that were sent to his desk by the legislature.<\/p>\n

The Senate version<\/a> calls for sales to start on January 1, 2027, while the House bill stipulates that adult-use cannabis sales could begin on November 1 of this year.<\/p>\n

Here are the key details of the Virginia marijuana sales\u00a0legalization\u00a0legislation:<\/strong><\/p>\n