Virginia’s Senate has formally signed off on a proposal to legalize retail marijuana sales in the commonwealth despite concerns raised by law enforcement groups that warn the harms from legal cannabis will outweigh those of alcohol.
The Senate on Tuesday approved a sales bill from Sen. Aaron R. Rouse (D) on a 21–18 vote, next sending the measure to the House of Delegates.
The vote came a day after the House approved a separate marijuana sales bill from Del. Paul Krizek (D) that differs from the Senate proposal in several key respects. Those differences will still need to be hammered out if lawmakers hope to send any cannabis commerce legislation to Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) this session.
On the Senate floor, Rouse told colleagues that Virginia’s legalization of cannabis possession in 2021 and subsequent failure to adopt a framework for retail sales has led to “a major expansion of the illegal market, where unregulated, untested and untaxed products are sold, oftentimes to minors.”
“We hear from Scott County to Virginia Beach that this is a true public safety and public health crisis,” he said, “and that we’re missing out on tens of millions of dollars of potential revenue that could
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