Virginia governor vetoes bill to stand up recreational marijuana industry

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin officially killed a bill approved by the state legislature that would have authorized state-regulated adult-use cannabis commerce.

“The proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety,” Youngkin said in a veto statement.

“States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far exceed tax revenue,” the governor asserted. “It also does not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety. Addressing the inconsistencies in enforcement and regulation in Virginia’s current laws does not justify expanding access to cannabis, following the failed paths of other states and endangering Virginians’ health and safety.”

The move is expected to allow the state’s already-thriving gray market to continue flourishing.

The Virginia Legislature approved adult-use legalization in 2021, before Youngkin took office and while Democrat Ralph Northam was still in the governor’s mansion. That step fully legalized personal possession, consumption, and limited home cultivation of cannabis. But the legislation also included a reenactment clause that required a separate bill be approved to authorize a new industry, commercial grows and sales, and all the trappings that come with it.

That reenactment portion has essentially been thwarted by Virginia Republicans since Youngkin took office, but Democrats retook both chambers of the legislature in 2023. This year, they approved two identical bills – Senate Bill 448 and House Bill 698 – to stand up a new recreational marijuana industry.

If Youngkin had let either of them become law without his signature, the state would have begun issuing business licenses in September, WVEC reported.

But now it’s back to the drawing board for cannabis business interests in Virginia.