Cannabis in Virginia is legal for both medical and adult use.

In 1979, Virginia legalized medical cannabis to treat glaucoma and chemotherapy side effects, however the law was essentially non-functioning for many years. Virginia opened its first medical dispensary in 2020.

Virginia became the first southern state to legalize cannabis for adult use in April 2021, with the law taking effect, July 2021.

Within Virginia’s adult use framework, adults 21+ may possess up to one ounce of cannabis or an equivalent amount of cannabis product as determined by  Board regulation and  up to four marijuana plants for personal use at their place of residence;. Within the medical framework a patient may not possess more than a 90 day supply of cannabis product for a given 90 day period and no more than 4 ounces of botanical cannabis during a 30 day period.

Within Virginia’s adult use sector a social equity license applicant  is a person who has lived or been domiciled for at least 12 months in the state and is either 

(i) an applicant with at least 66 percent ownership by a person or persons who have been convicted of a certain misdemeanor marijuana offenses; 

(ii) an applicant with at least 66 percent ownership by a person or persons who is the parent, child, sibling, or spouse of a person who have been convicted of a certain misdemeanor marijuana offenses; 

(iii) an applicant with at least 66 percent ownership by a person or persons who have resided for at least three of the past five years in a jurisdiction that is determined by the Board after utilizing census tract data made available by the United States Census Bureau to have been disproportionately policed for marijuana crimes;

 (iv) an applicant with at least 66 percent ownership by a person or persons who have resided for at least three of the last five years in a jurisdiction determined by the Board after utilizing census tract data made available by the United States Census Bureau to be economically distressed; or 

(v) an applicant with at least 66 percent ownership by a person or persons who graduated from a historically black college or university located in the Commonwealth.

Social Equity provisions have yet to be established by the board. However, the law requires the creation of a program to provide loans to qualified social equity cannabis licensees for the purpose of promoting business ownership and economic growth by communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the prohibition of cannabis.

While still being developed, the  social equity  program should:

1. Identify social equity qualified cannabis licensees who are in need of capital for the start-up of a cannabis business properly licensed;
2. Provide loans for social equity operators;
3. Provide technical assistance; and
4. Bring together community partners to sustain the Program.

Social Equity provisions have yet to be established by the board. However the law requires the board to establish standards and requirements for (i) any preference in the licensing process for qualified social equity applicants, (ii) what percentage of application or license fees are waived for a qualified social equity applicant, and (iii) a low-interest business loan program for qualified social equity applicants.

Social Equity provisions have yet to be established by the board.  However the law requires the board to establish standards and requirements for (i) any preference in the licensing process for qualified social equity applicants, (ii) what percentage of application or license fees are waived for a qualified social equity applicant, and (iii) a low-interest business loan program for qualified social equity applicants.

Virginia has not yet announced how much money will be provided to specifically support its social equity program, nor whether the funds will be available to program participants prior to the states first commercial cannabis sales in 2024.

The law does however establish the Virginia Cannabis Equity Business Loan Fund, which is derived from the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund. Money in the Equity Business Loan Fund  shall be used  only for the purposes of providing low-interest and zero-interest loans to social equity qualified cannabis licensees in order to foster business ownership and economic growth within communities that have been the most disproportionately impacted by the former prohibition of cannabis. 

The wider Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund will receive 30% of all tax profits (an estimated $26 million in the first year of sales and $128 in the fifth). Funds  will be used for the following activities. 

1. Supporting persons, families, and communities historically and disproportionately targeted and affected by drug enforcement;
2. Providing scholarship opportunities and educational and vocational resources for historically marginalized persons, including persons in foster care, who have been adversely impacted by substance use individually, in their families, or in their communities;
3. Awarding grants to support workforce development, mentoring programs, job training and placement services, apprenticeships, and reentry services that serve persons and communities historically and disproportionately targeted by drug enforcement.
4. Contributing to the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and
5. Contributing to the Virginia Cannabis Equity Business Loan Fund (as described above)