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Virginia’s governor and a key lawmaker say they have reached an agreement on a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana sales through budget legislation this month following the veto of a previous proposal to enact the reform.
“Throughout this year’s legislative process, my end goal has been to finally set up a safe, well-regulated retail cannabis market in Virginia,” Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) said on Friday, adding that she is “grateful” to lawmakers who have led on the issue “for their partnership in delivering a new framework to move forward in a way that is paced appropriately for regulators, public health officials and law enforcement.”
“I look forward to sharing more specific details soon,” she said.
Del. Paul Krizek (D), who sponsored the earlier measure to allow adult-use cannabis commerce and is serving as a negotiator for the budget, said on Friday that “we have a deal” on the marijuana issue.
He was speaking a a press conference where House leaders unveiled their broader budget proposal, which includes cannabis reform language.
Krizek said that lawmakers and Spanberger would hold a separate press conference on Tuesday focused on unveiling full details of the negotiated marijuana compromise.
For now, the cannabis provisions in the House budget legislation are marked as a “placeholder” and do not necessarily reflect the final deal—though there are some notable changes from the previously passed and vetoed measure that appear to reflect certain areas of agreement between the governor, Krizek and Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D), who sponsored the Senate version of the earlier bill.
For example, the new legislation sets the launch date for recreational marijuana sales at July 1, 2027, which is what Spanberger proposed in contrast to the January 1 date in what lawmakers had passed.
It also sets the legal public marijuana possession and per-transaction purchase limit at 2 ounces, an increase from the current legal limit of one ounce. The legislation lawmakers passed earlier this year would have allowed adults to possess up to 2.5 ounces.
The bill also cedes to Spanberger on language to increase a marijuana excise tax from 6 percent to 8 percent after two years of legal sales.
By way of compromise, the new legislative text would make public consumption of marijuana punishable by a civil penalty of $250—a significant increase from the $25 in current law but less harsh than the class 4 criminal misdemeanor the governor sought in her proposed changes to the previous bill.
The House budget legislation also provides a significant increase in funding for the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to address “costs associated with the creation of a retail cannabis market.”
Delegate Paul Krizek says “we have a deal” on a legal recreational marijuana market in the budget.
He says there will be a press conference with Governor Spanberger next week unveiling the agreement. pic.twitter.com/kY1VofId5p
— Tyler Englander (@TylerEnglander) June 12, 2026
Lawmakers passed the cannabis sales bills in March, but the governor then suggested changes to the legalization proposal—including delaying the start date for sales by six months, increasing taxes and instituting new criminal penalties for cannabis consumers. The legislature in April declined to take up the amendments during a one-day reconvened session, however, effectively rejecting them. Spanberger then issued a veto.
Spanberger said earlier this week that she has been having “really productive” and “incredible” conversations with lawmakers about crafting a compromise approach to legalizing adult-use cannabis sales, and Marijuana Moment previoulsy reported on the ongoing talks.
A spokesperson for Spanberger previously told Marijuana Moment that the governor “has made clear that she continues to support setting up a legal retail marketplace for cannabis that prioritizes the health and safety of Virginians, protects communities and consumers and operates with clear enforcement and regulatory authority.”
The governor and the sponsors of the legalization legislation “share these same goals, and she looks forward to moving this across the finish line together,” the spokesperson said.
Following Spanberger’s veto, top lawmakers have been openly discussing the possibility of including provisions to legalize adult-use cannabis sales in still-outstanding budget legislation that they are due to pass by July 1.
The effort to keep the issue alive was a topic of discussion last week at the first meeting of the legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market since the governor’s move to kill the previous proposal to regulate adult-use marijuana sales.
The governor, meanwhile, is continuing to try to publicly explain her veto—including by saying it is her view that “taking a little bit longer” to launch the market is not something she sees as “negative” because it is more important to get the details right than to do it fast.
A recent survey found that bipartisan majorities of Virginia voters wanted Spanberger to sign the cannabis legislation into law, and that they specifically disagreed with her desire to slow the launch timeline for legal sales.
The governor recently acknowledged in a separate interview that “a lot of people are not pleased” with her veto of the cannabis legislation. “Friends and family are displeased as well,” she said.
Spanberger has repeatedly responded to criticism of her cannabis amendments from the bill sponsors and advocates by saying the suggested changes came after she spoke to the leaders of other states that have already implemented adult-use marijuana markets.
A spokesperson for Spanberger declined to name any other governors she talked to about cannabis in response to a question from Marijuana Moment, however.
The governor separately recently sought to explain her veto in an earlier interview, reiterating that she supports launching a legal cannabis market but worried about what she called a “rushed timeline” and “far more stores across Virginia” than she thinks are appropriate.
Prior to vetoing the cannabis commerce bill, the governor did sign separate legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with past cannabis convictions.
Personal marijuana possession and home cultivation of marijuana has been legal in Virginia since 2021, but then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) twice vetoed bills to provide consumers with a way to legally purchase regulated adult-use cannabis.
Aird and Krizek, the sponsors of the legalization bills, had urged colleagues to vote against the governor’s amendments—even if that meant risking a veto from Spanberger when the legislation returned to her desk, which has now occurred.
Here are the other key details of the cannabis bills—SB 542 and HB 642—as approved by lawmakers and with the governor’s suggested amendments prior to the newly negotiated compromise:
A coalition of cannabis reform organizations sent the governor a letter urging her not to veto the sales legalization legislation even though her amendments were rejected.
“Together, these bills address the real issues surrounding cannabis in the Commonwealth today: an already-existing, unregulated marijuana market operating openly across the state while consumers, communities, and law enforcement are left without the protections of a legal framework,” the groups wrote.
“Let’s be clear: these bills do not create a marijuana market in Virginia. That market already exists,” the letter said. “What these bills do is replace today’s predatory and unaccountable illicit operators with a regulated marketplace, enforceable rules, oversight, product safeguards, age verification, and the strict consumer safety standards already in use for Virginia medical cannabis.”
The letter was signed by Virginia NORML, Marijuana Justice, Virginia Cannabis Association, Marijuana Policy Project and other groups.
Separately, a coalition of hemp businesses that joined with a major alcohol retailer in asking Spanberger to veto the marijuana bill before she did so said the move presents an “opportunity” to craft better cannabis policy.
Meanwhile, the governor signed several other reform bills this session—including measures to protect the parental rights of marijuana consumers and allow patients to access medical cannabis in hospitals.
Read the House budget legislation with cannabis provisions below:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28239696-house-conference-proposal-budget-amendment-package/
Tom Angell is the editor of Marijuana Moment. A 25-year veteran in the cannabis and drug law reform movement, he covers the policy, politics, science and culture 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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