Virginia lawmakers made the right decision in rejecting Gov. Spanberger’s substitute to the cannabis retail bill. This was more than a policy disagreement; it was a necessary stand against rolling back hard-won progress on justice reform and against deepening the very inequities our commonwealth has worked so hard to undo.

The way marijuana policy choices have played out in the real lives of Virginia residents is this: While we legalized marijuana for adults, we have quietly shifted enforcement onto our children.

The numbers tell the story. Adult marijuana arrests have plummeted from 21,803 in 2019 to just 916 in 2024. That is what reform is supposed to do. But the system didn’t disappear; it was simply redirected. In 2019, only 17% of marijuana-related youth complaints came from schools. Today, that number has tripled to 54%. Schools have become the front door to the legal system for thousands of young Virginians.

We are now criminalizing children for behavior that is no longer illegal for adults.

Worse still, the data shows that criminalization is not working. Young people are pulled into the legal system for marijuana use more frequently than those who have no legal system involvement. And younger children are now being pulled into the legal system. Thirteen and 14-year-old children are now the ones against whom intake complaints are filed most frequently. Against this backdrop, the governor’s substitute bill would have taken us in the wrong direction.

It would have escalated youth marijuana possession from a Class 2 misdemeanor to a Class 1, the highest-level misdemeanor in Virginia. The governor’s substitute would have imposed mandatory minimums: a $500 fine and 50 hours of community service. That is not reform. It is a return to punitive policies that we already know fail, and the consequences would have been immediate and severe.

First, the harsh penalties outlined in the governor’s substitute would have stripped courts of discretion. Right now, nearly 76% of youth cases are eligible for diversion, giving young people a chance to avoid court involvement altogether while still providing accountability and rehabilitation. Mandatory minimums force more youth deeper into the legal system by increasing probation, court oversight and long-term consequences.

Second, it would have pushed more students out of school. Since decriminalization for adults, our new normal is that more than half of marijuana complaints come from schools. The further layering of court dates, community service and probation requirements onto the lives of students would only increase absenteeism, disengagement and dropout risk.

Third, the governor’s substitute would have imposed unjust financial burdens on families. A mandatory $500 fine may be an inconvenience for some, but for many families, it is destabilizing. And when fines go unpaid, the penalties compound, pulling young people even deeper into the legal system.

Virginia’s General Assembly recognized these harms and refused to enshrine them into law. That decision reflects a broader truth: we cannot punish our way out of youth substance use.

The legislature’s cannabis retail framework, developed through extensive stakeholder input, offers a path forward that does not sacrifice children in the process. The governor now faces a clear choice: sign the original bill and allow Virginia to move forward or veto it and prolong a system that is already failing our youth.

In this moment, we must be clear: rejecting the governor’s substitute was not the finish line; it was the floor.

We still have urgent work to do. After legalizing adult use, the shift in enforcement onto youth is real, harmful and measurable. If Virginia is serious about justice reform, the next steps must address this overcorrection head-on by investing in public health approaches, keeping young people in schools and expanding community-based responses that actually work.

Our young people deserve better than a system that uses criminalization to fill policy gaps. Virginia’s youth deserve solutions grounded in evidence, age appropriateness and opportunity.

In Virginia, we took a step in the right direction. Now, let’s finish the job!

Chelsea Higgs Wise is executive director of Marijuana Justice. Valerie Slater is a criminal defense attorney leading the RISE for Youth Organization, where she advocates for the rights of youth involved in the many Virginia systems.