Democrats still plan to push legislation to establish a retail marijuana market in Virginia despite Gov. Glenn Youngkin expressing his desire to work on other issues this session.
“Everyone knows where I stand on establishing a retail marijuana market,” Youngkin said during his State of the Commonwealth Monday. “Let’s work together on other issues where we can find common ground.”
When speaking to the press after his speech, Youngkin said marijuana is “bad for Virginia, bad for Virginians, and particularly bad for our adolescent and youth.”
“We have a functioning medical marijuana market, and we need to move forward and work on things that I believe we can find common ground on,” he continued.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said it would be irresponsible not to move forward with the legislation.
“It’s totally irresponsible to Virginia consumers and to our taxpayers not to try to capture, legalize and tax the existing black market,” he said. “Start gaining a $300 million tax revenue out of it and get safe products into ’ hands. I mean, right now, we have a completely unregulated market. It’s totally irresponsible not to do anything.”
Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, and Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, have filed legislation again this year to establish a retail market to sell and regulate marijuana sales across the commonwealth. Youngkin vetoed a similar bill last year.
Rouse, who hopes to see his bill pass and signed into law, echoed the same sentiments as Surovell.
“It’s irresponsible for Governor Youngkin to stand in the way of legalizing retail cannabis sales,” he said in a statement Monday. “Establishing a regulated cannabis market would free up law enforcement resources and unlock significant economic potential, generating an estimated $300 million in tax revenue.”
Virginia legalized simple possession of marijuana in 2021, while Gov. Ralph Northam was in office. Youngkin won the election in November of 2021, and legislators have been unable to find common ground with him on establishing a retail market since.