The Virginia Senate and House of Delegates have each passed bills to legalize adult-use cannabis sales, Marijuana Moment reports. The chambers now must vote on each other’s proposals. The governor, however, has stated that if such a bill were to reach his desk, he would veto it — as he did last year.
House lawmakers voted Tuesday 53–46 to approve House Bill 2485, while the Senate approved the companion legislation SB 970 last week. The proposal is nearly identical to last year’s vetoed bill.
The legislation would set a retail cannabis tax of up to 11.625%, including a new 8% cannabis sales tax, up to 2.5% in optional, additional local government taxes, and 1.125% as a state retail and use tax, the report said. The bill would also give licensing and regulation duties to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, which would be tasked with overseeing cannabis sales, production, transport, testing, and delivery. The law caps the cannabis product serving sizes at 10 milligrams of THC with no more than 100 mg THC per package, and local governments would be allowed to ban cannabis businesses under the proposal but only with a successful voter referendum.
Virginia state lawmakers legalized adult-use cannabis possession and home cultivation in 2021 but stopped short of establishing a regulated adult-use marketplace. Republicans regained the House later that year and blocked any further reforms, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has continued the party’s opposition with his veto powers.
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