With Virginia Democrats widening their House majority and voters electing a pro-legalization governor during last week’s election, one senator from the party says he’s “very optimistic” about the prospect of advancing legislation to create an adult-use marijuana market in the coming session.
In an interview with 13 News Now that aired on Friday, Sen. Aaron Rouse (D) was asked about the prospects of moving forward with cannabis reform and finally implementing a commercial sales program years after the legislature legalized possession and home cultivation by adults.
“Any measure that we can take to find revenue, I’m very optimistic about that approach,” the senator, who has been the lead sponsor of legislation to legalize and regulate adult-use sales that was vetoed by the outgoing GOP governor, said.
“We, in Virginia, have to take every step we can to make sure we can find revenues that strengthen our communities, that strengthens the education process, that puts food on the table, that gets people back to work,” Rouse said.
Since legalizing cannabis possession in 2021, Virginia lawmakers have worked to establish a commercial marijuana market—only to have those efforts consistently stalled under outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who twice vetoed measures to
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