VIRGINIA

Recreational Marijuana in Virginia

Those close to the administration say not to expect a recreational marketplace as long as Youngkin is in office, although he is not expected to repeal the Cannabis Control Act. The sale of recreational cannabis and cannabis products, however, which was scheduled to take place on or after January 1, 2024, will not happen. There are no current regulatory or licensing provisions that would allow existing dispensaries to sell to the adult-use recreational market.

Bills that would address regulatory authorities, licensing, and establishing a retail market have been killed in the past two years by the Republican-controlled House. Retailers and dispensaries will not be able to sell recreational marijuana without those provisions, even though sales technically become legal in 2024.

The 2021 law was ambiguous, leaving details about social equity, licensing, and taxation to be determined. This is not a priority of the current governor, who stated he is not against commercialization and has no intention of overturning the Cannabis Control Act, although has declined to say if he would sign legislation on the issue.

As it stands currently, retail sales of marijuana are illegal in Virginia, and a change would require legislative action. It looks like Virginians will not be lining up outside of a dispensary without a medical marijuana card starting January 1, 2024 as many had hoped.

Changes to Medical Marijuana in Virginia

The governor has, however, signed legislation earlier this year to bring big improvements to Virginia’s medical marijuana program with HB 1846 and SB 1337. These bills eliminate the previous requirement for healthcare practitioners to register with the Board of Pharmacy to issue medical cannabis patients written certifications.

Additional legislation in HB 2368 gives authorization to practitioners to add a patient’s registered agent directly to the certification, which eliminates a previously long waiting period for the agent’s registration processing. HB 2368 contains additional language that will improve the labeling of cannabis products and increase the availability of low THC, CBD-dominant products.

This greatly improves Virginia’s medical cannabis program by expanding access to state residents who want to participate in the medical marijuana program. As soon as patients receive their written certificate, they can present that with a government-issued ID to purchase cannabis from one of Virginia’s medical cannabis dispensaries.

Even more changes have been made with HB 1598 and SB 788 that transfer the administration and oversight of Virginia’s medical cannabis program away from the Board of Pharmacy and to Virginia’s Cannabis Control Authority effective January 1, 2024.

Current Cannabis Laws in Virginia

Wondering what are the current cannabis laws in Virginia? As of late 2023, here’s what’s legal in VA:
Legal:

• Adults 21 years of age and older are allowed to possess no more than 1 ounce of cannabis on their person or in any public place
• Adults 21 years of age and older may use cannabis in their private dwellings, although homeowners can restrict the use of cannabis on their premises.
• Adults 21 years of age and older are allowed to grow up to four plants per household, not per person. Each plant must be inaccessible to children under 21 and not visible from the street as well as be tagged with information containing the grower’s name, ID number, and a notation that the plant is grown for personal use as allowed under the law.
• It is legal to practice “adult sharing” or the transferring of 1 ounce or less of cannabis between adults 21 and over without remuneration, which means there can be no offer for the sale of goods or services or in the context of a reciprocal transaction.

Now that you know what is legal in VA, here’s what’s Illegal:

• It is illegal for any person to possess over 1 ounce of raw cannabis
• It is illegal for any minor under the age of 21 to purchase, possess, or consume marijuana
• It is illegal to sell or distribute cannabis or possess any amount with the intent to sell or distribute
• It remains illegal to smoke marijuana in public, while driving, in a vehicle, or as a passenger in a vehicle.
• It is illegal to drive with an “open container”, the original manufacturer’s container must remain sealed while driving.
• It is illegal to possess cannabis on school grounds
• It is illegal to manufacture cannabis concentrates from home-cultivated cannabis plants.

Growing your own pot in Virginia requires that you keep the plants out of accessible range to minors under the age of 21 and out of sight from public view. Since retail sales in the state will not begin as planned in 2024, growing your own cannabis at home in Virginia is the perfect way to enjoy this healing plant.

Whether you choose to grow your personal cannabis garden indoors or outdoors, high-quality marijuana plants begin with high-quality marijuana seeds. Mosca Seeds offers the highest quality weed seeds online with a wide variety of indica, sativa, or hybrid blends to get the perfect combination of pain relief and relaxation.

Choose from regular cannabis seeds, feminized or autoflowering seeds. Feminized pot seeds save you the trouble of weeding out the males, and auto flowers switch to the flowering stage regardless of the light cycle. Both are good if you are new to home growing, although all Mosca Seeds are cultivated with the finest in cannabis seed genetics.

If you are taking advantage of the fact that it’s legal to grow up to four plants at your home in Virginia, make sure you start with high-quality cannabis seeds. Only quality seeds produce quality plants. Check out the Seed Bazaar at Mosca Seeds, a world-renowned seed breeder with cannabis cup-winning strains and a wide variety of potent weed seeds online in Virginia.