Virginia Senators Should Remove New Marijuana Penalties From Bill To Legalize Sales, Advocacy Groups Say

February 10, 2026

Virginia marijuana sales legalization is supposed to be a door out of the drug war’s basement, not a trapdoor back into it. But in Richmond’s fluorescent-lit halls, where good ideas often leave with bite marks, a late-session switchblade of amendments appeared—fresh penalties, sharper teeth—aimed at the very people legalization was meant to stop chewing up. A coalition of 37 cannabis and civil rights groups saw the move for what it was: a step backward dressed like
responsibility. They’re asking senators to gut the new punishments and honor what voters actually wanted—regulated sales, sensible rules, and relief for the folks who took the heaviest hits when enforcement was king.

The pivot that adds handcuffs

The sponsor, Sen. Lashrecse Aird, didn’t mince words: the amendments were not friendly, not aligned with the bill’s intent. They’d jack up penalties for buying from unlicensed sources, recriminalize possession for people under 21, and make first-time unlawful sales a Class 1 misdemeanor that escalates to mandatory jail on a second offense. Unlicensed cultivation would jump to a felony with up to five years on the table; transporting across state lines with intent to distribute would also be a felony. Civil rights and industry groups—from Marijuana Justice and the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition to Drug Policy Alliance, Last Prisoner Project, MCBA, Parabola Center, UFCW Local 400, and the Virginia Cannabis Association—warned that this is how you rerun an old movie with a new label, especially after state auditors long ago documented how Black Virginians were disproportionately targeted under marijuana enforcement. Legalization without proportionality isn’t a fix; it’s a fresh coat of paint on the same brick wall.

What a legal Virginia cannabis market would actually look like

Purchases: Adults could buy up to 2.5 ounces per transaction (with product equivalencies set by regulators).
Regulator: The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would run licensing, testing, transport, delivery, and enforcement.
Taxes: Up to 12.625% total on retail sales (state 1.125% plus 8% cannabis tax), with localities able to add up to 3.5%.
Revenue use: Admin/enforcement, a Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, pre-K, substance use prevention and treatment, and public health programs like impaired driving awareness.
Local control: No opt-outs for cities or counties; delivery services allowed.
Product limits: 10 mg THC per serving; 100 mg per package.
Market entry: Existing medical operators can convert with a $10 million fee; labor peace agreements required.
Future add-ons: Study on on-site consumption, microbusiness event permits, and whether ABC should get a piece of the enforcement pie.
Timeline: The Senate’s SB 542 pegs sales to January 1, 2027; the House version eyes a faster launch—November 1 this year. The governor has signaled support for adult-use sales done right.

Here’s the rub: while one committee greenlights a resentencing bill to automatically revisit old marijuana convictions, another toys with new ways to criminalize people in the current market. That contradiction hits like a bad cocktail—sweet on top, harsh in the finish. The resentencing measure, SB 62, would create automatic hearings to modify sentences for certain marijuana offenses that happened before July 1, 2021, when personal possession and home grow became legal. Meanwhile, the sales bill’s amendments would put fresh cuffs on unlicensed buying and selling today. If the goal is to stand up a legal market that actually works, you don’t dangle harsher penalties while the regulated storefronts are still blueprint and promise. You focus on access, price, product safety, and trust—the daylight that pulls consumers out of the illicit economy.

Legalize it right should mean fewer arrests tomorrow than yesterday—not new traps with “public safety” stamped on the lid.

Follow the money and you’ll usually find the answer. Taxes under this plan can stack—state, cannabis-specific, local—to a ceiling that will test the patience of consumers and the margins of small operators. Price the legal product too high or bury it in red tape and the unregulated market stays open for business. Then lawmakers panic and reach for the same old penalty lever. That loop gets even weirder under federal tax rules like 280E, which kneecap state-legal businesses by denying them standard deductions. If you want a sense of how glaring that mismatch is, see Congressional Researchers Analyze Whether Denying Marijuana Business Tax Deductions Under 280E Is Unconstitutional. Policy should harmonize incentives: lower barriers to entry, fair taxation, real equity reinvestment, and a retail start date that doesn’t feel like an afterthought. And spare me the pearl-clutching when advocates push back—this isn’t whining; it’s quality control. If you want a taste of how quickly politicians can tell a movement to pipe down, skim Ohio Governor Tells Cannabis Advocates To Stop ‘Whining’ Over Legalization Law Changes As Rollback Referendum Proceeds. Different state, same playbook.

Zoom out and the American drug conversation is mutating in real time. Alaska’s policy minds are prepping for a world where psychedelic-assisted therapy becomes mainstream medicine, contingent on FDA approval—see Alaska Government Task Force Recommends Legalizing Psychedelic Therapy Upon FDA Approval. Meanwhile, our machines are getting awfully good at simulating journeys of the mind—prodding us to wonder what counts as experience and what counts as evidence. For a head trip on the boundary between perception and policy, check AI Models Like ChatGPT Can Generate ‘Convincingly Realistic’ Psychedelic Experiences When Virtually Dosed, Study Shows. Back in Virginia, the task is simpler: stop criminalizing the very behavior a regulated market is supposed to absorb, light up the legal pathway with clarity and fairness, and let adults make adult choices. And if you’re ready to explore compliant, high-quality options while the policy cooks, take a look at our shop: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.