Majority Of Virginia Voters Back Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Sales As Lawmakers Advance Bills To Do It

As Virginia lawmakers advance legislation to expand the state’s current marijuana law by legalizing and regulating recreational sales, a new poll shows that they have the support of a majority of registered voters.

Sixty percent of respondents in the survey released on Wednesday by The Wason Center at Christopher Newport University support allowing retail adult-use cannabis sales.

That includes majorities of Democrats (74 percent) and independents (59 percent), though only 38 percent of Republicans are on board.

Voters between the ages of 18 and 44 are much more likely (74 percent) to back legalizing recreational cannabis sales than are those above 45 years old (48 percent), according to the poll.

The survey results come as committees in the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate have recently approved bills to legalize and regulate the adult-use cannabis market.

While there are some differences between the chambers’ bills, the overall proposals largely align with recommendations released last month 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.

“It’s been nearly five years since Virginia legalized cannabis,” JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, said in a blog post about the new poll results. “Voters recognize the public safety urgency in taking marijuana out of the corner store and placing it behind age-verified dispensary counters.”

“The illicit market has exploded in the absence of legal retail access,” Pedini said. who also serves as the executive director of the state chapter, Virginia NORML. “In addition to improving consumer safety, regulated sales will reinvest millions of tax dollars in Virginia communities and replace the underground market that drains local resources.”

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

• Retail sales could begin on November 1, 2026 under the House version and January 1, 2027 under the Senate bill.
• 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.

“Right now is that we live in this gray space where there’s some legality to marijuana, there’s some illegality,” she said ahead of taking office. “There’s a lot of questions—a lot of confusion—and that creates real problems for Virginians who might currently have the legal ability to buy it for medicinal needs, or for those who might try to fall under the personal use.”

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Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

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Meanwhile, Virginia lawmakers have filed other marijuana-related legislation for the 2026 session, including proposals to provide resentencing relief for people convicted of past cannabis crimes and to let terminally ill patients use medical marijuana in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Separately, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry recently published a new outlining workplace protections for cannabis consumers.

Photo courtesy of Max Jackson.