Majority Of Virginia Voters Back Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Sales As Lawmakers Advance Bills To Do It – Marijuana Moment
Majority Of Virginia Voters Back Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Sales As Lawmakers Advance Bills To Do It
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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:
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.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
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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.
Tom Angell is the editor of Marijuana Moment. A 25-year veteran in the cannabis and drug law reform movement, he covers the policy and politics of marijuana, psychedelics and other substances. He previously reported for Forbes, Marijuana.com and MassRoots, and was given the Hunter S. Thompson Media Award by NORML and has been named Journalist of the Year by Americans for Safe Access. As an activist, Tom founded the nonprofit Marijuana Majority and handled media relations, campaigns and lobbying for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
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