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

Originally Published in Marijuana Moment by Kyle Jaeger

A coalition of 37 cannabis and civil rights organization is urging Virginia senators to reverse course on amendments made to a bill to legalize recreational marijuana sales that they say undermine the “intent” of the legislation and the “will of the people” by adding new criminal penalties for cannabis-related activity.

In a letter led by Marijuana Justice, the groups told members of the Senate Finance Committee that they should roll back the amendments that were incorporated at the behest of a different panel’s chairman last week over the objections of the bill sponsor, Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D).

“The measure should focus on responsible regulations, not further criminalization,” the letter says.

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Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC), Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), Last Prisoner Project (LPP), Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA), Parabola Center for Law and Policy, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400 and Virginia Cannabis Association were among the other signatories on the letter.

Senate Courts of Justice Committee Chairman Scott Surovell’s (D) amendments “are an attempt to unravel Virginia’s commitment to undoing the harms of the War on Drugs, despite clear finding from the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission that Black Virginians were disproportionately harmed by marijuana enforcement,” the groups wrote.

The amendments at issue include those that increase penalties for consumers who buy from unlicensed sources, recriminalize cannabis possession by people under 21 and make unlawful sales a class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense and a crime punishable by mandatory jail time for a second offense.

As amended, the bill would also raise the penalty for unlicensed cultivation to a felony punishable by up to five years in jail and make it a felony to transport with intent to distribute cannabis across state lines.

The bill sponsor “explicitly identified these amendments as unfriendly and inconsistent with the purpose and intent of SB 542,” the letter continues. “Several members of the committee, both Republican and Democrat, also identified the amendments as problematic, confusing, and in direct conflict with the intent of legalization. Cannabis should not be treated the same as alcohol, including penalties.”

“We are demanding the members of the Senate Finance Committee remove these amendments in their entirety and prioritize legalizing it right.  By signing this letter, organizations are not endorsing the retail bill but opposing Senator Surovell’s harmful amendments which will undoubtedly inflict disproportionate harm on Black people, people of color, and low income earners while further criminalizing our communities.”

JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, told Marijuana Moment last week that the organization is “deeply concerned by committee members’ efforts to recriminalize cannabis consumers and adopt marijuana mandatory minimums.”

“It’s particularly unsettling that as this body is moving to address resentencing for marijuana-related convictions, it is simultaneously entertaining new ways to further criminalize consumers,” Pedini said.

The advancement of the commercial sales bill as amended comes about a week after the House General Laws Committee approved a companion version of the legislation, sponsored by Del. Paul Krizek (D).

As approved in committee, the legislation largely aligns with recommendations released in December by the legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market.

Since legalizing cannabis possession and home cultivation in 2021, Virginia lawmakers have worked to establish a commercial marijuana market—only to have those efforts consistently stalled under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who twice vetoed measures to enact it that were sent to his desk by the legislature.

The Senate version calls for sales to start on January 1, 2027, while the House bill stipulates that adult-use cannabis sales could begin on November 1 of this year.

Here are the key details of the Virginia marijuana sales legalization legislation:

• Adults would be able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis products as determined by regulators.

• The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would oversee licensing and regulation of the new industry. Its board of directors would have the authority to control possession, sale, transportation, distribution, delivery and testing of marijuana.

• A tax of up to 12.625 percent would apply to the retail sale of any cannabis product. That would include a state retail and use tax of 1.125 percent on top of a new marijuana-specific tax of 8 percent. Local governments could levy an additional 3.5 percent.

• Tax revenue would be split between the costs of administering and enforcing the state’s marijuana system, a new Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, pre-kindergarten programs, substance use disorder prevention and treatment programs and public health programs such as awareness campaigns designed to prevent drug-impaired driving and discourage underage consumption.

• Local governments could not opt out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area.

• Delivery services would be allowed.

• Serving sizes would be capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package.

• Existing medical cannabis operators could enter the adult-use market if they pay a $10 million licensing conversion fee.

• Cannabis businesses would have to establish labor peace agreements with workers.

• A legislative commission would be directed to study adding on-site consumption licenses and microbusiness cannabis event permits that would allow licensees to conduct sales at venues like farmers markets or pop-up locations. It would also investigate the possibility of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority becoming involved in marijuana regulations and enforcement.

Newly sworn-in Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) supports legalizing adult-use marijuana sales.

Another cannabis bill approved by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee last week would mandate that individuals with certain offenses automatically receive resentencing hearings and have their punishments adjusted. A House companion version from Del. Rozia Henson, Jr. (D) also advanced recently.

The legislation would create a process by which people who are incarcerated or on community supervision for certain felony offenses involving the possession, manufacture, selling or distribution of marijuana could receive an automatic hearing to consider modification of their sentences.

The bill applies to people whose convictions or adjudications are for conduct that occurred prior to July 1, 2021, when a state law legalizing personal possession and home cultivation of marijuana went into effect.

The panel adopted a series of technical changes to the legislation prior to approving it.