Virginia Lawmakers Pass Bills To Legalize Marijuana Sales, Resentence Past Convictions And Allow Medical Cannabis In Hospitals

Virginia marijuana sales legalization just cleared a smoky, hard-fought checkpoint. On crossover day, the House and Senate pushed rival blueprints across the hallway—two maps to the same treasure: a regulated adult-use market to replace a chaotic gray scene lawmakers peg at roughly $5 billion. The votes were tight and telling. Delegates backed the House plan 65–32. Senators slid theirs through 21–19. One sponsor framed the pitch with the kind of weary pragmatism you hear after last call: possession and home grow are legal, but sales are a mess—no testing, no standards, and no grown-up in the room. Another promised to “clear the smoke.” The throughline is simple: bring the Virginia cannabis market above board, keep products out of kids’ hands, and finally put inspectors, labels, and recall notices where they belong—between consumers and a plant that’s already part of daily life here.

Here’s where the roads fork. The House version, HB 642, aims to open legal doors on November 1, 2026. The Senate’s SB 542 starts the clock on January 1, 2027. Cannabis taxation is the biggest flavor difference. Senators set a 12.875% excise tax on top of a 1.125% state sales tax and a mandatory 3% local add-on. The House counters with a 6% excise tax, the 5.3% retail sales tax, and a local option up to 3.5%. Adult-use buyers could pick up to 2.5 ounces per transaction. Delivery drivers would be legit. Edibles would cap at 10 mg THC per serving, 100 mg per package. Medical operators could convert by paying a steep cover charge—$15 million under the Senate plan, $10 million for the House. And the referee? The House keeps the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority at the helm; the Senate would merge booze and bud under a new Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Control Authority. Revenue splits also diverge, but both send meaningful chunks to equity reinvestment, early childhood education, behavioral health, and public health—a nod to legal cannabis revenue doing more than lining a general fund.

There was drama, because there’s always drama when politics meets pot. A Senate committee briefly laced the bill with new criminal penalties—charges for buying from the illicit market, recriminalizing under-21 possession, and ratcheting up unlicensed cultivation to a felony with real teeth. Another committee stripped those changes days later after advocates argued they undermined marijuana policy reform. Meanwhile, resentencing legislation motored forward in both chambers, setting up automatic hearings for people locked up or under supervision for certain marijuana offenses committed before July 1, 2021—the day possession and home grow came in from the cold. The sales bills largely track with recommendations from a bipartisan legislative commission built to shepherd Virginia into a functioning retail era, and the new governor has signaled support for getting adult-use sales right instead of stalled. It’s the familiar American dance: punish the past less, regulate the present better, and try to steer the future somewhere humane.

Hospital hallways—where fluorescent lights hum and time moves like syrup—also got attention. Delegates passed “Ryan’s law,” HB 75, by a lopsided 95–1, authorizing registered patients with terminal illnesses to access medical cannabis inside health facilities. Hospitals would need clear policies to govern how and when cannabis can be used; they could pause the program if federal enforcers or Medicare regulators come knocking. The Senate approved a different version, so negotiators will earn their coffee. On the margins, lawmakers moved to protect parents who use cannabis legally from losing custody or being tagged abusive absent actual harm, while labor officials published guidance outlining workplace protections for cannabis consumers. It’s a slow reweaving of rules—thread by thread—so patients, parents, and workers aren’t left guessing which century they’re living in. If you want to eavesdrop on the sausage-making, the House’s third-reading vote roll-up is posted for public viewing here.

Zoom out and you see a country testing recipes in real time. Massachusetts now measures adult-use momentum in billions, with a blizzard-fueled surge pushing the register ever higher—see Massachusetts Hits $9 Billion Recreational Marijuana Sales Milestone With Surge In Purchases Ahead Of Big Snowstorm. Maryland keeps the psychedelic conversation alive and institutional, extending its task force through 2027—file that under smart preparation and read Maryland Lawmakers Approve Bill To Extend Psychedelics Task Force Through 2027. National politics is its own bar brawl, with some still clinging to gateway myths; for that culture clash, see Former White House Drug Czar Says Trump Is Wrong To Reschedule Marijuana, Calling It A ‘Gateway Drug’ That’s ‘Massively Destructive’. And don’t forget the unlikely theaters where reform holds the line—Oklahoma’s GOP leaders recently iced a push to yank medical marijuana at the ballot, a reminder that backlashes meet brick walls, too: Oklahoma House And Senate GOP Leaders Dismiss Governor’s Push To Repeal Medical Marijuana At The Ballot. If Virginia threads this needle—taxes that don’t choke small operators, clear rules, equity that’s more than a speech—it won’t just tamp down the illicit market; it’ll build a steady, safer supply chain. When you’re ready to explore compliant options while the policy puzzle locks into place, browse our shop: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.