Recreational pot in the Old Dominion? It’s complicated

In 2021, Virginia became the first state in the Deep South to legalize marijuana. As a consequence, employers in the Commonwealth have been bracing themselves for the impact legal marijuana use may have on their recruitment practices and drug-free workplace policies. Recently, however, they’ve received at least a partial reprieve. That’s because while legalization was relatively easy, regulating the growing and sale of marijuana is proving to be a much more difficult undertaking than first imagined.

Remaining issues

As enacted last year, Virginia’s marijuana legalization law contained various plans for government agency oversight, tax regulations, and the issuance of permits to growers and retail sellers, all of which are supposed to go into effect by 2024. In a compromise to ensure the legalization measure passed, the General Assembly included language in the law requiring future approval of the regulatory plan following further study and consideration after the November 2021 elections.

The elections changed the political calculus. The Republican takeover of the Virginia House of Delegates and the governor’s mansion in Richmond coupled with a still Democrat-controlled state senate have muddied the consensus for implementing the growing and commercial sale of pot. Divided government is now the norm in the Commonwealth, and how it will affect the regulation of marijuana sales is at the forefront of state politics.