Since the legalization of adult-use cannabis in 2021, lawmakers have sent two conflicting messages to Virginians: cannabis is legal to possess, but we won’t give you any legal way to buy it. Four years ago, when the General Assembly took the long-awaited step of acknowledging that adults should not be criminalized for cannabis use, we did so without the health, safety and economic framework to make legalization work. As a result, we’ve failed to protect communities, leaving individuals susceptible to exploitation and on their own, relying on an illicit market. When legislators return in 2026 to finally establish a legal marketplace, we must prioritize public safety, clear economic equity goals and without a local opt-out option. The goal will be to create hundreds of new small and local businesses, strengthen Virginia’s agricultural sector, end the racial disparate impacts of prohibition and protect the health and safety of all Virginians. 

But allowing local opt-out is opting into the illicit market. We’ve heard from those concerned about dispensaries “popping up” in their backyard, fears of increased use and rise in crime as a result. This is not what a statewide marketplace is about. Like our local leaders, we want retailers to reflect the character and essence of the communities they locate in. That’s why any legislation that removes the opt-out option will also allow local governments to maintain full zoning authority, set operational guidelines, review local business licensing and set buffer distances from schools and houses of worship. 

For those opposed to cannabis altogether — opting out won’t somehow prohibit adults from being legally allowed to possess cannabis — but it will determine if they can do so safely. In a recent report provided to the Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market, Dr. Michelle Peace, forensic toxicologist and professor of forensic science at Virginia Commonwealth University, detailed research laboratory’s findings on vaping and cannabis products in the commonwealth, showed how many products (i) lacked labeled ingredients and/or THC concentration; (ii) mislabeled such concentrations; and (iii) contained contaminants such as mold, yeast and fecal matter. A statewide marketplace ensures mandatory testing, accurate labeling, seed-to-sale tracking and resources dedicated to education on the risks of improper cannabis use. We owe it to Virginians to do so much better, reducing risk and getting unsafe products off the streets with a statewide market with real safety oversight. 

Our cannabis policy is needlessly complicated, and we have largely placed the burden on law enforcement to navigate an incomplete system. Legalization without a marketplace has demanded heavy enforcement, and any system that is established and allows for an opt-out option, by local referendum, for example, will continue that dynamic. Our public safety officials are already strained monitoring illegal dealers, inspecting products in vape shops and expending scarce resources shutting down unregulated operations. A statewide marketplace prevents disproportional enforcement and provides clarity for law enforcement, which ultimately can make communities safer. 

When regions opt out, consumers will still buy, just not from the revenue-generating, regulated stores. Opt-outs create economic winners and losers based on local politics as opposed to a consistent statewide policy. In California, despite a statewide retail cannabis marketplace, 62% of localities opted out of retail sales and, as a result, according to Leafly, the illicit market still accounts for 30-50% of sales. In New Jersey, industry and equity-report data show that “opt-outs have limited both consumer access and the ability for social-equity and small operator participation, because legal business opportunities are geographically fragmented.” In New York, with 34% opting out, the value of cannabis licenses in surrounding areas was inflated while access to many was reduced. There are estimates that with legalization, tax revenue could generate nearly $300 million over six years, but not with a split marketplace. The data is clear, “States with more legal, licensed, and regulated stores exhibit far more success in putting illegal marijuana sellers out of business. States with fewer stores tend to harbor the most robust illicit marijuana markets,” and lose the most revenue. 

We get one chance to get this right. Virginia has gone on too long in a state of confusion created by an unfinished cannabis law. No matter where a person lives, whether it’s in rural, urban or suburban Virginia, they deserve access to cannabis should they choose to use it, and without fear of contaminated products that put their health, safety and well-being at risk. There is only one way to do that, and it’s with a law that establishes a retail marketplace for adults that protects consumers and children, allows equitable and fair participation and access in that marketplace, supports law enforcement and fulfills the promise of true legalization.

The writers are state legislators who are all members of the Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Retail Cannabis Market: Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax County, is the chair. Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell County, and state Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, are members.