The Virginia Legislature is apparently making it an annual tradition to approve recreational marijuana sales, only to face a veto from its anti-cannabis governor.
For the third time since 2021, lawmakers in the commonwealth are poised to approve full adult-use marijuana legalization via House Bill 2485 and Senate Bill 970, but the measures face near-certain vetoes from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Virginia Mercury reported. Youngkin also vetoed similar measures in 2024.
Youngkin has long been opposed to legalization, despite some conservatives crossing the aisle to join with Democrats in approving the House measure.
The Virginia cannabis market has been in limbo for nearly four years, after Democratic lawmakers approved a broad legalization proposal in 2021, just before they lost the governor’s mansion that fall. However, the legislation they passed included a reenactment clause, which required a new bill in order to fully stand up a recreational market; in the absence of that, personal possession and consumption were legalized, but a functional market was not.
That’s led to a thriving gray market of both marijuana and hemp producers competing with state-licensed medical marijuana companies.
It’s also led to a cycle of repetitive bill approvals by Capitol Democrats and subsequent vetoes by Youngkin, who has only said he’s interested in cracking down on the burgeoning hemp market and has no interest in supporting a broader cannabis trade.
Last year, some lawmakers predicted that the state’s recreational cannabis market won’t really get under way until 2027, since a new governor will be elected this fall, possibly paving the way for a new legislative fix to the cannabis quandary in 2026 and then a market launch the year after.
[[{“value”:”The state’s political tug-of-war over recreational cannabis market continues, as the bills are likely to be vetoed by the governor.
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