[#item_full_content] Disruption Spanberger announces deal on retail marijuana It will make Virginia the first Southern state to allow retail sales. Reid Wilson 01:14 PM, Jun 16, 2026 A cannibis plant that is close to harvest grows in a grow room at the Greenleaf Medical Cannabis facility in Richmond, Va., June 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and two top lawmakers said Tuesday they reached a deal to allow the sales of legal marijuana beginning next year, ending seven years of stalemate and making it the first Southern state to allow retail sales. In a joint announcement, Spanberger, Sen. Lashrecse Aird and Del. Paul Krizek, all Democrats, said retail sales would begin on July 1, 2027, giving the state’s new Cannabis Control Authority a year to develop regulations and set testing and safety standards. “We will [open a legal retail marketplace] in a way that protects consumers, targets the illicit market with clear enforcement and regulatory authority, and creates a more competitive market for small business and farmers,” Spanberger said in a statement. The deal will create a maximum of 350 retail cannabis establishment licenses and increase the amount of cannabis that is legal to possess from one to two ounces. Retailers would be barred from selling or advertising products with cartoon advertisements, or those in the shape of animals, fruits, vehicles or humans. The Cannabis Control Authority will gain the authority to fine businesses that fail to check identifications. Businesses that repeatedly sell to underage patrons would be in jeopardy of losing their licenses. Retail stores would be required to stay at least 1,000 feet away from schools, hospitals, playgrounds or drug treatment facilities. Public consumption of marijuana would be punishable by a civil penalty of $250 — 10 times the amount of the penalty under existing law. Spanberger had wanted a harsher penalty in proposed changes to earlier legislation. Retail marijuana will be taxed at a 6% rate until 2029, when the tax will jump to 8%. Local governments will be allowed to adopt additional taxes of up to 3.5%, over and above existing retail sales and use taxes. Money generated from tax revenue would be steered toward education and childcare programs, drug treatment and public health programs, and the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund. That fund, created in the legislation that established the legal market in 2021, aims to address disparities in communities that have historically been over-policed. “For too long, the failed war on drugs imposed real consequences on individuals, families and communities, while doing little to create lasting public safety,” Krizek said in a statement. “The benefits of legalization should not be limited to the largest and best-capitalized players, and this agreement helps ensure Virginia entrepreneurs have a fair shot to thrive in this emerging market.” The path to legalization in Virginia has been full of fits and starts. Democrats approved measures to allow legal marijuana in the 2020 and 2021 legislative sessions. But then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, vetoed several bills to establish the retail market. Democrats expanded their majorities in the 2025 elections, aided by Spanberger’s coattails. They approved retail marijuana sales earlier this year, but Spanberger vetoed the measure after the two sides failed to reach agreement on changes she sought. The deal reached Tuesday is likely to win approval in the coming days, as lawmakers finalize work on the state budget. Virginia would become the 25th state to allow the retail sales of marijuana for recreational use, and the first since Ohio began legal retail sales in 2024. 
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