Are There Recreational Dispensaries in Virginia?

There are no recreational dispensaries in Virginia yet. The General Assembly passed legislation in 2026 setting up a retail marijuana market, but the law forbids any retail sales before January 1, 2027. Adults 21 and older can legally possess up to an ounce and grow a few plants at home in the meantime, but there is no legal storefront to buy from.

When Recreational Sales Are Expected to Begin

The path to legal retail has moved in fits and starts. In March 2025, Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed HB 2485, which would have allowed retail sales as early as May 2026. His veto message said a retail market “endangers Virginians’ health and safety.”¹

The 2026 session produced HB 642, which cleared both chambers and establishes a framework for a retail marijuana market administered by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. The bill provides that no retail sales may occur before January 1, 2027, and it also transfers oversight of regulated hemp products to the CCA on that same date.²

Companion legislation would layer three taxes on retail cannabis: a 12.875 percent marijuana excise tax, a 1.125 percent state sales tax, and a mandatory 3 percent local tax, for a combined rate near 17 percent.³ The CCA will handle licensing for cultivation facilities, manufacturers, wholesalers, testing labs, and retail stores, and it is required to develop a seed-to-sale tracking system that follows cannabis from the plant stage through the point of sale.⁴

How quickly stores actually open once the January 2027 date arrives will depend on the regulations the CCA adopts and how fast it can process license applications. The 23 existing medical dispensaries may serve as an early retail footprint, but that is not guaranteed.

What Adults 21 and Older Can Do in the Meantime

Even without dispensaries, Virginia law allows adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana on their person or in any public place.⁵ Since there is no legal storefront yet, that ounce has to come from home cultivation or from another adult who gave it to you.

Growing at Home

Adults 21 and older may grow up to four marijuana plants per household at their primary residence. “Household” covers everyone living at the same address, related or not, so roommates share the four-plant cap. Each plant must carry a legible tag with the grower’s name, driver’s license or ID number, and a note that the plant is for personal use.⁶

Plants cannot be visible from any public road or sidewalk without the aid of binoculars or similar tools, and growers must take precautions to keep plants out of reach of anyone under 21. Violating the tagging or visibility rules carries a civil penalty of up to $25. You also cannot make marijuana concentrate from your home-grown plants.⁶

Sharing, Not Selling

Adults 21 and older may share up to one ounce with another adult, but only if no money or anything of value changes hands. Handing a friend a small amount at a cookout is legal. Selling a $60 “sticker” or “candle” that happens to come with a “free gift” of cannabis is not, and enforcement treats those transactions as sales. Distributing up to one ounce is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine, and larger amounts escalate quickly into felony territory.⁷

Medical Dispensaries Are the Only Cannabis Stores Open Now

Virginia has 23 medical cannabis dispensaries spread across the state, operated by several licensed companies covering Northern Virginia, the southwestern region, south-central Virginia, and the eastern shore area.⁸ These are the only brick-and-mortar cannabis stores currently operating in the state.

To buy from one, you need a written certification from a registered practitioner stating that cannabis could benefit a diagnosed condition. Virginia no longer requires a separate patient registration card from the CCA. The written certification alone is enough to make a purchase.⁹ The certifying practitioner’s consultation typically runs $75 to $200, paid to the doctor rather than the state. Medical patients may also grow up to four plants at home under the same rules as anyone else.⁶

Medical products are not a workaround for recreational buyers. Without a valid certification, purchases from these dispensaries are not permitted.

Penalties for Buying or Selling Outside the Legal Channels

Because there is no legal recreational supply chain in Virginia yet, anyone selling cannabis on the recreational market is doing so illegally. Selling up to one ounce is a Class 1 misdemeanor carrying up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. Selling more than one ounce and up to five pounds is a Class 5 felony punishable by one to 10 years in prison. Selling more than five pounds carries five to 30 years.⁷

Possession above the one-ounce limit carries its own escalating consequences: a civil penalty of up to $25 for amounts over an ounce but under four ounces, misdemeanor charges from four ounces to a pound, and a felony punishable by one to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for more than a pound.⁵ Those thresholds apply to what you carry on your person or have in a public place.

Where You Can’t Use Cannabis Once You Have It

Consuming marijuana or offering it to someone in any public place is prohibited. A first offense carries a civil penalty of up to $25, a second adds a court-ordered substance abuse education or treatment program, and a third or subsequent offense is a Class 4 misdemeanor with a fine of up to $250.¹⁰

Vehicles are their own category. Using or consuming marijuana while driving, or while riding as a passenger on a public highway, is a Class 4 misdemeanor. Virginia’s open-container rule for cannabis mirrors its alcohol rule. An open container is any vessel other than the original sealed manufacturer’s packaging, and if one is found in the passenger area (including the glove compartment and any spot within the driver’s reach) with cannabis partially removed, a court may infer that someone consumed it in the vehicle.¹¹ The safe practice is to keep cannabis in the trunk, or behind the last upright seat in a hatchback or SUV.

Driving while impaired by marijuana falls under the same DUI statute that covers alcohol. Virginia does not set a specific THC blood level that triggers an automatic violation. Prosecutors must prove that marijuana impaired your ability to drive safely, using observed behavior, field sobriety tests, and any blood test results. A marijuana DUI conviction carries the same penalties as an alcohol DUI.¹²

1
Virginia General Assembly / LIS. HB2485VG – 2025 Regular Session
2
Virginia General Assembly / LIS. HB642 – 2026 Regular Session
3
Virginia General Assembly / LIS. SB826 – 2026 Regular Session
4
Virginia Code Commission. Authorities – Cannabis Control Authority, Virginia
5
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 4.1-1100 – Possession of Marijuana and Marijuana Products by Persons 21 Years of Age or Older Lawful; Penalties
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 4.1-1101 – Home Cultivation of Marijuana for Personal Use; Penalties
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-248.1 – Penalties for Sale, Gift, Distribution or Possession With Intent to Sell, Give or Distribute Marijuana
8
Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Medical Cannabis Dispensary Locations
9
Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Patients, Parents, Legal Guardians, and Registered Agents
10
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 4.1-1108 – Consuming Marijuana or Marijuana Products, or Offering to Another, in Public Place; Penalty
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 4.1-1107 – Using or Consuming Marijuana or Marijuana Products While in a Motor Vehicle Being Driven Upon a Public Highway; Penalty
12
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-266 – Driving Motor Vehicle, Engine, Etc., While Intoxicated, Etc.