Virginia adult-use cannabis sales could begin November 2026

Virginia adult-use cannabis sales could begin Nov. 1, 2026 – and small businesses might get first crack ahead of big marijuana multistate operators.

That’s under a proposed regulatory framework state lawmakers plan to present to Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, who’s promised to finally open the South’s first legal market after years of obstructionism.

Virginia became the first state in the South to legalize recreational cannabis in 2021.

State lawmakers twice passed a bill that would have launched regulated sales – and twice, outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed the bills.

Since Youngkin’s last veto – and ahead of Spanberger’s election in November – lawmakers on a Joint Commission on the Future of Cannabis Sales have been concocting a proposed regulatory framework.

Details about what Virginia’s adult-use cannabis market might look like are finally available – and it appears to more closely resemble New York, where small businesses have been prioritized, than it does nearby states like Maryland where big operators got first crack.

Virginia adult-use marijuana taxes, licensing proposed

According to the Virginia Mercury, a regulatory bill they plan to introduce as soon as Tuesday will include:

• Reserving up to 50% of adult-use marijuana business licenses issued to “microbusinesses.”
• Restrictions on ownership designed to decentralize control and discourage consolidation.
• Capping all license holders at no more than five total locations statewide.
• A new direct-to-consumer license that would allow microbusinesses to deliver directly to a patient or adult-use consumer’s home.
• An allowance for cannabis businesses to deduct certain expenses on their state returns amid federal 280E restrictions.
• No ability for cities and counties to opt out of allowing legal retail sales.

Sales would be subject to an 8% state tax, with localities able to impose an additional local tax of up to 3.5%.

When will Virginia adult-use marijuana sales start?

With 8.6 million residents, Virginia could be one of the biggest new cannabis markets to open in some time.

The state reported nearly $30 million in sales in July and August, the first two months of state-mandated track-and-trace monitoring.

Adult-use cannabis sales could reach $780 million in the first full year of sales and exceed $1.09 billion by the second year, according to the MjBiz Factbook.

According to a 2020 study commissioned by state lawmakers, Virginia could support between:

• 100 and 800 cultivation permits
•  30 and 150 processing or distribution licenses
• 200 and 600 retail licenses

How big is the Virginia adult-use marijuana market?

Virginia’s MMJ market is currently limited to five companies, each of which are assigned to a geographic region.

These are:

• Miami-based MSO Ayr Wellness, which is in the process of being liquidated and never opened a dispensary, according to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority
• Boca Raton, Florida-based Jushi
• Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries
• New York-based The Cannabist Co., formerly known as Columbia Care
• Chicago-based Verano Holdings Corp.