r/FreeVirginiaNews

Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have allowed Virginia to (finally) start legal recreational cannabis sales in 2027.

Spanberger's veto is another setback for the Virginia Democrats who prioritized the effort and were banking on her support after years of Republican vetoes — and her pledge to support the measure.

General Assembly Democrats agreed on legislation to set up a retail weed marketplace that passed on a nearly party-line vote on the last day of the legislative session in March. Spanberger later rewrote the bill with changes that lawmakers said they couldn't accept.

The Democrat-led Legislature chose not to consider Spanberger's version, which forced the governor to either sign the bill that lawmakers sent her, veto the long-desired retail market or quietly allow it to become law without her signature after 30 days.

Four days before her deadline to act, Spanberger vetoed the bill — prolonging Virginia's yearslong stay in marijuana purgatory.

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A series of new laws hitting the books this summer seek to rein in invasive plant species in Virginia.

The measures make new opportunities for localities to collaborate on invasive control, set new requirements on the state Department of Transportation's management of plants on highways and close a loophole on how plants are prohibited from sale in the commonwealth.

Read more here.