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The vote came after a conference committee struck a deal on Saturday to reconcile different versions of the bill passed in both houses earlier this month.
The impact: Virginia is the 16th US state to pass a law to legalize adult marijuana, although sales will not begin until 2024. Only two other states – Illinois and Vermont – have passed legislation to legalize, tax and regulate recreational marijuana through the legislature.
The move puts pressure on neighboring states such as Maryland, where a bill to legalize adult use was first heard this month. New Jersey also recently enacted legalization, after voters overwhelmingly backed a referendum in November.
And after: Democratic Governor Ralph Northam has championed legalization as a matter of racial justice.
Under the compromise law, possession of marijuana would not become legal until January 2024, when regulated sales are expected to begin. The state would begin setting up a marijuana regulatory agency in July.
The background: The state decriminalized marijuana last year in a special session devoted to criminal justice reform. Virginia’s medical marijuana program is just beginning to take off, and lawmakers passed a bill this session that would expand the program to allow marijuana flower products.
Northam approved the legalization in November and urged lawmakers to pass his proposal during his state of the state address. The bill was based on two in-depth studies on the matter: a report by his administration and another by the non-partisan Audit and Legislative Review Committee.
Bills quickly traveled through the chambers in a short 30-day session, which Northam extended with a 16-day special session. Lawmakers have addressed thorny issues such as how to prevent large corporations from taking over the marijuana market and how to handle automatic redactions of marijuana offenses when the criminal justice system lacks the power to deal with it. the technology to do it.
Opponents of the legalization of marijuana have highlighted public health issues such as youth use and impaired driving, as well as tobacco giant Altria’s lobbying on the issue. Altria bought a $ 1.8 billion stake in Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group in 2018.
Marijuana advocates have highlighted the harms of the disproportionate application of marijuana offenses in communities of color. The bill contains strong social equity provisions, including prioritize business licenses for people considered to have been disproportionately affected by criminal law enforcement, which deterred some otherwise favorable Republicans from voting for the bill.
“Initially, I was in favor of the approach that is encompassed in this bill,” said GOP Senate Minority Leader Thomas Norment during the floor debate. Norment highlighted his advocacy for the marijuana decriminalization bill that was passed last year.
“I just don’t accept this social equity set aside on licensing. We don’t do it for alcohol, we don’t do it for other things, ”he said.
The details: The bill would allow adults over the age of 21 to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana. Home growing would be allowed under the bill – up to two mature plants and two immature plants per household.
The bill sets a 21% excise tax on marijuana and allows municipalities to add an additional 3% tax on retailers on top of existing sales taxes. Marijuana tax revenues would be used to fund pre-K education, substance use disorder treatment programs and other public health initiatives. A portion of the proceeds would also go to a cannabis equity reinvestment fund, which would provide resources such as scholarships and workforce development for communities disproportionately affected by the fight against cannabis. drug.
Vertical integration would be allowed in circumstances limited to the grandfather of medical cannabis producers and industrial hemp processors. Micro-enterprises would also be allowed to integrate vertically.
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