When will Virginia finally launch adult-use cannabis sales?

Virginia remains the only state to have legalized adult-use cannabis without also setting up legal, regulated sales after repeated vetoes from outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

But when voters select his replacement in November, they’ll also likely determine when Virginia will finally launch legal marijuana sales, according to Richmond-based CBS affiliate WTVR-6.

For the past two years, Virginia’s Democratic Party-controlled legislature has passed legislation to allow all adults 21 and older to purchase cannabis from state-licensed retailers.

However, Youngkin vetoed cannabis sales twice, citing concerns over “gang activity and violent crime.”

Youngkin is termed out.

And the two leading candidates to replace him appear to be split on the issue, according to statements given to WTVR.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, a former member of Congress, pledged to make legal marijuana sales in Virginia a reality.

“As the next governor of Virginia, I look forward to working with our General Assembly to find a path forward to creating a legalized retail market for cannabis that both prioritizes public safety and grows Virginia’s economy,” Spanberger said in a statement released to WTVR.

“The Commonwealth needs a clear strategy to set up a market that is safe, transparent and good for Virginia,” she added.

“Particularly, revenue from commercial cannabis products must be reinvested into our communities and used for purposes like strengthening our public schools.”

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears did not reply to a request for comment from WTVR, the station reported.

But in the past, Earle-Sears, who has an F rating from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), has claimed adult-use cannabis “will destroy us.”

In a 2021 appearance, Earle-Sears, a former state lawmaker, once said she fired an employee from her business when she “found out he was on marijuana.”

“You can’t work for me, you’re gonna destroy somebody’s home, you’re gonna crash, it’s gonna decimate us, because marijuana is a gateway drug,” she said, according to video from the event.

“There is no hope in that, there is no future.”

Adult-use marijuana sales in Virginia could reach $490 million in a regulated market’s first year, with a projected increase to $1 billion in the third year, according to the MJBizFactbook.

Action from the governor is necessary because the legalization bill Youngkin’s Democratic predecessor, Ralph Northam, signed into law in 2021 contained a clause that required further action to create a market projected to be worth hundreds of millions.

In the meantime, the state has a medical marijuana program.

Medical marijuana sales could reach $59 million this year, according to an MJBizFactbook projection.

However, critics say the state is losing out on jobs and tax revenue while customers seek cannabis from alternative sources such as Maryland’s legal adult-use industry as well as hemp-derived THC products and the illicit market.

The most recent vetoed legislation would have give exclusive adult-use sales rights to the state’s existing medical marijuana businesses, which include major multistate operators such as: