Legislators and prosecutors spent Wednesday trying to interpret language in the new state budget that some say accidentally legalized marijuana distribution well ahead of its intended start date and without appropriate guardrails.
The question: Were current laws forbidding marijuana distribution, plus possession for people under 21, mistakenly repealed on July 1, the start of the new fiscal year, instead of on July 1, 2027, as intended? That could mean people could now legally sell any amount of the drug, and nothing would stop those under 21 from possessing it.
The recently passed budget incorporated language to legalize retail sales of cannabis starting July 1, 2027. The question is whether that language inadvertently repealed all cannabis laws as of July 1, 2026, leaving a one-year gap before new ones take effect.
The Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys has heard concern from members and is reaching out to “appropriate parties” to clarify, said Amanda Howie, its administrator.
By Wednesday afternoon, the state’s Code Commission, which handles the details of posting laws and fixes small errors, had updated the state’s website to say that current restrictions will remain in effect until new provisions take over on July 1, 2027. Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax County and chair of the Code Commission, said the original language was unclear and, if followed, “an absurd result would have happened.”
“The Division of Legislative Services recommended to the Code Commission that this was an obvious error and so we used our authority to correct this,” Simon said. He called this “a fairly routine thing” that only drew attention because the law was already in place. “Usually this happens in March, April, May before laws become effective,” he said. Because this law was already in place, “we did speed up that section.”
The concern about whether cannabis laws had been inadvertently repealed came to light as VACA was assembling educational materials for its members, Williamsburg-James City Commonwealth’s Attorney Nate Green told the Daily Press on Monday.
Green said he was concerned that the budget language seems ambiguous at best, which could work against prosecutors who bring cases.
“It has at a minimum invited the argument that the old laws were repealed as of July 1, 2026,” Green told the newspaper. “They created a word problem, and word problems go against prosecutors. If it’s unclear, we lose.”
However, Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle said Wednesday he doesn’t believe any measures were repealed.
“While there are some who believe that the recently passed budget language has made it legal to currently distribute marijuana and for minors to possess marijuana, I do not agree with that interpretation,” he said. “I believe those laws are still valid and enforceable.”
The debate comes after state lawmakers this year finalized a plan to allow marijuana to be sold for recreational use. Language in the state budget permits up to 350 licensed cannabis sellers to open in July 2027. The language penalizes sales to minors and seeks to promote market competition.
Current provisions against distributing and selling were to remain on the books until the new system took effect. The same went for underage possession. However, the budget also included language saying that previous laws were repealed as of July 1, 2026, and the way it is written has sparked confusion as to which passage it refers to.
Ultimately, the General Assembly could convene a special session to clarify the budget language.
Dwayne Yancey contributed to this report.
