Virginia lawmakers oppose Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s cannabis amendments, citing higher taxes, harsher penalties and risks to the legal market.
Virginia lawmakers who authored legislation to create a regulated adult-use cannabis market are pushing back against Governor Abigail Spanberger’s proposed amendments, which they argue would fundamentally alter the intent of their bills. The governor’s substitute, introduced Monday, includes a six-month delay in retail sales, higher taxes, and new criminal penalties for cannabis consumers. Sponsors of the legislation say the changes would weaken consumer protections and allow the illicit market to continue operating unchecked.
Senator Lashrecse Aird, a Democrat who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, described the governor’s substitute as “a significant departure from the framework passed by the General Assembly, raising serious concerns about fairness, access and public safety.”
Aird argued that making the legal market harder to access would allow the illicit market to thrive in every corner store across the Commonwealth, increasing the likelihood of untested products and inconsistent potency while lacking consumer protections.
According to her, the proposal also undermines protections meant to keep minors from obtaining cannabis and to enforce responsibility, which she said endangers public health and safety.
Delegate Paul Krizek, who sponsored the House version of the cannabis bill, echoed those concerns. He said the governor’s proposal “creates a less accessible legal marketplace” by reducing the number of available licenses, delaying the launch of retail sales, and imposing high barriers to entry.
Krizek warned that these changes would result in revenue losses, delayed economic opportunity for market participants, and the elimination of investment in small businesses. “These barriers do not eliminate demand,” he said, “it simply redirects it back to the illicit market.”
The governor’s amendments touch nearly every aspect of the legislation. Under the original bill approved by lawmakers, legal sales could begin on January 1, 2027. Spanberger proposed pushing that date back to July 1, 2027. The governor also wants to increase the excise tax from 6 percent to 8 percent starting July 1, 2029, while keeping the rest of the tax structure largely intact. Lawmakers had approved a 6 percent excise tax, a 5.3 percent retail sales and use tax, and allowed municipalities to add up to 3.5 percent in local taxes. The governor’s plan is largely the same on local taxes, though the excise increase would take effect later.
Perhaps the most contentious changes involve criminal penalties. Under the governor’s plan, consuming cannabis in public would be reclassified as a class 4 misdemeanor, shifting it from a civil infraction that currently carries a $25 penalty. She also wants to make possession of cannabis by anyone under 21 a class 1 misdemeanor, with a mandatory minimum fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service, plus a six-month driver’s license suspension. A class 2 felony with a potential life sentence would apply to anyone caught unlawfully selling or distributing at least 50 pounds of cannabis.
Aird said the governor’s amendment “substantially introduces harsh escalating criminal penalties that risk repeating the very harm legalization was meant to correct, particularly in communities that have historically been harmed by prohibition.” She noted that the proposal would simultaneously allow intoxicating hemp products to continue being sold without safeguards. Krizek added that Virginians have not been waiting since 2021 for a legal retail marketplace that will expand criminal penalties, introduce new felony tiers for cannabis-related offenses, and expose individuals to lifelong prison sentences while the state is actively correcting past wrongs.
The governor also proposed eliminating support for the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, which under the legislature’s plan would receive 30 percent of revenue. The original bill directed 40 percent of revenue to early childhood education, 25 percent to the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Health Services, and 5 percent to public health initiatives.
Spanberger wants to put all revenue into the general fund, earmarking it for purposes including early childhood education, behavioral health, public health awareness, workforce development, reentry services, and targeted reinvestment in historically disadvantaged communities. The governor’s plan also removes language that would have directed a legislative commission to study on-site consumption licenses and microbusiness cannabis event permits, which would have allowed licensees to conduct sales at venues like farmers markets or pop-up locations.
Under the governor’s proposal, current medical cannabis providers would be permitted to join the recreational market only after paying a $10 million fee to convert their license. Meanwhile, Spanberger signed several other cannabis bills on Monday, including measures to protect the parental rights of consumers and allow patients to access medical cannabis in hospitals. Additionally, she put forward revisions to a bill that would offer resentencing options for individuals with prior convictions and alter regulations for cannabis delivery operations.
Personal marijuana possession and home cultivation have been legal in Virginia since 2021, but former Governor Glenn Youngkin twice vetoed bills that would have provided consumers with a way to legally purchase regulated adult-use cannabis. The legislature is set to reconvene on April 22 to address the governor’s proposals. The outcome will determine whether Virginia moves forward with a legal cannabis market that lawmakers say prioritizes public safety and equity, or one that critics argue repeats the mistakes of prohibition.
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