“Governor Spanberger’s veto is a profound disappointment to the many Virginia voters who believed her when she said on the campaign trail that she supported establishing a regulated adult-use cannabis market. Now, instead of finally taking marijuana out of smoke shops and placing it behind an age-verified counter, Virginia is once again being forced to tolerate another yet year of dangerous illicit market activity in every corner of the Commonwealth.”
“After years of similar efforts being blocked under the previous administration, Virginia now has a process to revisit cannabis sentences that no longer reflect current law; families who have been waiting will finally have a path home.”
Virginia NORML is also promoting a separate action alert encouraging voters to contact the Governor’s office. To date, nearly 2,000 communications have been sent by Virginia voters.
“Further delaying legal retail sales is just another page from the prohibitionist playbook, the kind of policy failure Virginians saw under Glenn Youngkin, not what they expect from Abigail Spanberger.”
Lawmakers sent ten cannabis-related bills to the desk of Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger for her review.
Sixty percent of registered Virginians favor allowing for the sale of adult-use marijuana products by licensed retailers, according to statewide polling data compiled by The Wason Center at Christopher Newport University.
“Elections decide whether cannabis consumers are treated as constituents whose rights and safety matter or as political afterthoughts. For those who care about cannabis policy reform, this election is not an event to be watched from the sidelines; it is a turning point.”
“With his veto, Governor Youngkin has stripped Virginians of the reliable, direct-to-patient delivery services on which they have relied for years.”