In addition to vetoing a proposal that would have legalized retail marijuana sales in Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) this week rejected a number of other cannabis-related reforms, including efforts to resentence people serving time for cannabis offenses and protect the parental rights of those who legally use the drug.
Lawmakers are scheduled reconvene on April 2 to consider overturning vetoes and addressing amendments the governor is suggesting to various bills.
In addition to vetoing certain cannabis measures, the governor is proposing to amend a bill to seal past criminal records by delaying implementation of its provisions for six months and to remove delivery language from separate legislation altering rules for the state’s medical marijuana program.
Parental rights
One bill to receive a veto was HB 2613 from Del. Nadarius Clark (D), which would protect the parental rights of legal cannabis users. It specifies that a child would not be considered abused or neglected merely because of a parent’s use of marijuana. The measure would also protect parents’ custody and visitation rights by prohibiting their legal use of cannabis alone from affecting those matters.
Youngkin claimed in his veto message that the measure “introduces unnecessary complications and risks exposing children to harm.”
“The bill disregards clear evidence linking substance use to child endangerment, particularly in the wake of increased incidents of children ingesting cannabis-infused substances following the legalization of marijuana,” he said. “By broadly prohibiting courts from considering parental marijuana use in custody and visitation determinations, HB 2613 risks prioritizing drug use over the health and well being of children.”
The proposal passed the House on a narrow 50–48 vote and cleared the Senate by a 26–14 margin. It’s similar to a measure passed by lawmakers last session, which Youngkin also vetoed.
Cannabis resentencing
Another bill Youngkin vetoed Monday would allow people with certain felony convictions around marijuana to be resentenced, which would lead to shorter incarceration times and early release.
The proposal, HB 2555, from Del. Rosia Henson (D), is a revised version of a resentencing bill passed by lawmakers last session, which Youngkin also vetoed.
Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of the advocacy group Marijuana Justice, said proponents of this year’s iteration made some changes from last year designed to win support from the governor’s office, for instance removing eligibility for people with more serious crimes on their records. Advocates were hopeful the adjustments could avoid another Youngkin veto, but that didn’t come to pass.
“While framed as a measure for non-violent offenders, this bill would allow sentence reductions for individuals convicted of serious crimes, including those involving fentanyl distribution, sales to minors, and violent offenses where marijuana was a factor,” the governor said in his veto message. “The proposal places an undue burden on courts, prosecutors, and victims, requiring hearings even for those whose sentences were enhanced by prior marijuana convictions but were primarily convicted of far more serious offenses.”
“Public safety must remain the Commonwealth’s priority,” Youngkin wrote. “This bill undermines the justice system by granting automatic sentence reviews regardless of the broader context of an individual’s crimes.”
The Last Prisoner Project pushed back on the governor’s action, saying that the legislation “would have allowed thousands of individuals convicted under outdated cannabis laws to have their sentences reevaluated in light of legalization.”
“Instead, the governor’s veto ignores the families still suffering from prohibitionist laws repealed three years ago,” the group said. “Virginia ended cannabis prohibition in 2021, yet many remain incarcerated for offenses that are no longer crimes.”
The House passed this year’s bill 51–44, while the Senate approved it on a 21–15 vote.
Sealing past criminal records
Lawmakers this year passed separate House and Senate versions of legislation to seal a variety of criminal records. While not specific to cannabis, the reform would apply to “all possession of marijuana charges and convictions.”
Broadly, as passed by lawmakers, the two bills—HB 2723 and SB 1466—would extend a state-mandated expungement process set in 2021, giving local governments another 12 months to make required changes. The legislation would also require automatic record-sealing around non-conviction records around those cases, such as arrests or cases that are deferred or dismissed, and it would expand what records are eligible for expungement by petition.
Youngkin said in a message to lawmakers that he “approve[s] the general purpose of this bill” but is returning it with amendments. His suggested changes largely focus on pushing back implementation dates for various provisions of the legislation by six months.
Sen. Scott Surovell (D), the plan’s sponsor in the House, previously said that the proposal “ensures that all possession of marijuana charges and convictions will actually be sealed.”
A conference committee version of HB 2723 passed the House 98–0 and the Senate 28–12. A conference version of SB 1466, meanwhile, was approved on a 97–0 vote in the House and 28–11 vote in the Senate.
The reform also had the support of the Virginia State Crime Commission, which voted in January to approve a number of recommendations related to record sealing, including around cannabis.
Medical marijuana expansion
Lawmakers had high hopes Youngkin would support a modest expansion to Virginia’s existing medical marijuana system. Rather than signing or vetoing the legislation, HB 1989, from Del. Alex Askew (D), the governor exercised his power to recommend that lawmakers amend it.
As passed by the legislature, the bill would update product labeling requirements so packaging more clearly indicates THC and CBD levels, and it would have clarified where and how cannabis could be delivered to patients or their authorized agents.
Youngkin, however, is proposing to remove provisions to clarify that medical marijuana could be delivered to places other than a private residence and to allow independent contractors to serve as delivery agents.
“These mean-spirited amendments would greatly diminish patient access by severely restricting the medical cannabis program’s direct-to-patient delivery process which has notably been operating without incident since its inception,” JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, told Marijuana Moment.
The governor’s amendments don’t seek to alter the legislation’s labeling and packaging provisions.
The bill had strong support in both chambers, passing the Senate on a 30–10 vote and winning final approval in the House on an 84–14 margin.
Other legislation
Notably, one cannabis-related measure will take effect without action from the governor: a House joint resolution to re-establish a commission of lawmakers who would study and oversee the state’s implementation of marijuana laws. It’s seen by some as an indication the legislature is intent on future action around cannabis.
HJ 497 will create a joint commission of lawmakers—six from the House, four from the Senate—to study the state’s cannabis system, oversee the implementation of marijuana laws and make recommendations about future legislative changes.
A similar commission previously existed in the commonwealth, but the law creating that body sunsetted last year, and the group disbanded.
Higgs Wise, at Marijuana Justice, said the resolution’s adoption gives advocates better access to lawmakers “leading up to the next general session to prepare for the adult-use regulation bill.”
Outside of cannabis, one substance-related measure that didn’t proceed to the governor’s desk this year was SB 1101, from Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D). That proposal would have paved the way for psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans by establishing an advisory council to study and make recommendations about treatments involving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-designated “breakthrough therapies,” including substances such as psilocybin and MDMA.
While the bill was approved by the full Senate this session, a House panel unanimously voted to set it aside indefinitely.
Hashmi and supporters had said the bill would help curb what they described as a crisis in veteran’s mental health in Virginia, which has a comparatively high population of military veterans.
“One thing that we know is that veteran suicide remains a critical crisis point, with rates significantly higher among veterans than the civilian population. Given the fact that we have such a high veteran community here in Virginia, this legislation is especially necessary,” Hashmi said on the Senate floor.
The measure was an updated version of a similar proposal last year, SB 229, that also cleared the Senate but didn’t make it out of the House.
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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
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