Republicans In Virginia’s Legislature Ask To Start Rec Sales This Year Instead Of Waiting Until 2024

New leaders in Virginia’s legislature who once opposed legalizing recreational marijuana last year have now come on board for the plant and are even working to advance the industry’s legal framework.

Republicans have filed over a half-dozen bills that would amend the state’s adult-use cannabis law, moving forward the start date for legal sales at dispensaries and slashing a requirement that gives preference for cannabis business licenses to people who have been previously convicted of marijuana crimes.

“The overriding top-tier concern is that we must have a regulatory structure in place for retail sales that does not encourage the black market,” Garren Shipley, a spokesperson for Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert, told the Associated Press.

Virginia lawmakers passed adult-use marijuana during last year’s legislative session in a hotly contested party-line vote. Senate Bill 1406 allows adults over 21 years of age to buy, possess and use an ounce or less of the plant. But it doesn’t let retail sales start until January 1, 2024 — a delay that many lawmakers in both parties initially objected to.

Democrats controlled both the House and Senate in Virginia’s legislature last year, but Republicans have since taken control of the House following November’s election. A main Republican proposal this year is moving the start date for sales to July 1 of this year.

A provision in the adult-use law mandates that the legislature votes again this year to establish the regulatory framework for adult-use cannabis. In addition to determining the start date for retail sales as well as licensing laws, lawmakers will also determine how state officials will spend tax proceeds from the new program.

One recently filed bill would earmark 30 percent of the cannabis tax proceeds for the state’s general fund instead of a planned reinvestment fund, which was originally designed as a way of reinvesting in minority groups disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition, particularly communities of color.

Another bill would cut the tax rate on marijuana sales from 21 percent to 10 percent, a reduction that Republican leaders believe would keep prices of legal cannabis competitive with street prices. The hope is that lower prices at dispensaries will encourage more adults to buy the plant legally instead of from the black market.