The Governor of Virginia has signaled that he plans to push to legalize cannabis by July 1, 2021. This will be three years earlier than the current proposal.

Last month the current proposal passed through the Senate and the House of Delegates. Schedules that the possession of cannabis would not become legal until January 1, 2024. Under this schedule, it will coincide with the launch of the commercial market.

Governor Northam said recently that he doesn’t like the idea of punishing people for something that will soon be legal. Despite Northam has yet to formally declare whether he will move up the timeline officially.

Northam told VPM that he plans to place several amendments in front of the legislature. He hopes that they will be able to move forward.

Despite Northam not making anything official, multiple sources have expressed that the governor is exploring many options to speed up other provisions. Like the date, sales could take place and the process for expunging past cannabis convictions.

For the last few weeks, the governor has been lobbied by lawmakers and advocates who are urging him to speed up the timeline on possession. In order to address the state’s racial disparities in cannabis enforcement. Read the full article here.

House Push to Legalize Cannabis

The Virginia House Leaders are now joining the call urging the governor to legalize cannabis earlier than planned. Despite claiming the opposite just, a month ago when the legalization bill was under discussion.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D) said on Friday that the measure should be amended to make July 1 the effective date for legal cannabis possession. She also proposed three further revisions.

In a post on Twitter, House Speaker Eileen, explained the three revisions she hopes will be included in the legislation: 1) giving people with non-violent cannabis convictions the opportunity for resentencing, 2) automatically expunging convictions for non-violent cannabis offenses starting July 1, and 3) legalizing home cultivation for personal, adult-use on that date as well.

The speaker emphasized that legalization alone is not sufficient, and Virginia must address the historic targeting of black and brown individuals over nonviolent cannabis-related offenses. 

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