Virginia Governor Approves Recreational Cannabis Legalization for 2027

It’s been a roller coaster in the Virginia Legislature this year. After waiting years for a pro-cannabis governor to come in and allow a cannabis licensing system to become part of the state’s legalization framework, Abigail Spanberger shocked the state and the country with a late-term veto at the end of May.   

But then it was revived! A special session to balance the budget made some tweaks, and now we have the final bill, It’s similar to the bill that almost passed, but in May, but it pushes the timeline back from this fall to next February for application submission. 

Now, we are all waiting anxiously to hear more from the state. Here’s what we know: 

• There will be 350 retail licenses granted in a lottery in February 2027. 
• There will be at least 100 microbusiness licenses granted in the lottery as well, but eligibility for those will be limited to 1) impact (social equity) applicants, 2) Hemp license holders and 3) USDA Farmers.
• There could be other licenses granted (Cultivation Tiers I-V, Manufacturing, Distribution, etc), but the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) hasn’t published info on this yet (as of August 2026).  The state law gives them discretion to grant more, but doesn’t mandate it (like the 450 listed above)
• You can only enter the lottery once for each category of license 
• The cost of entering the lottery will be lower for impact applicants, but we don’t yet know the costs. We are awaiting updates from the CCA.
• A qualified lottery process will be used to choose license winners. It is expected to be fair.