It will be legal to sell weed in Virginia come July 1, 2027, but the businesses need to get started first. Among those hopeful distributors is Charlene Mooring with Rooted in Virginia, or RIVA
“We plan on applying for an impact license. What we have is a 26-year-old veteran who grew up in a distressed area, a victim of crime, who served his community,” Mooring said Monday.
She's seeking one the 350 maximum allotted retail pot licenses that are expected to be handed out in the spring. Specifically, they’re seeking a so-called impact license, one reserved for would-be retailers who have lived in an area quote “disproportionately policed for marijuana crimes or in a historically economically disadvantaged community.” You must have at least one of six other qualifiers as well, including a history of marijuana misdemeanor convictions, veteran status or being a USDA qualified distressed farmer.
There are other, non-impact licenses too. You can read more about them and the requirements for earning -and losing- one here, details start on slide 15.
Mooring spoke at Monday’s meeting of the Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market. Committee chair and Petersburg Senator Lasherce Aird said her office phone has been ringing off the hook with questions. Shawn Casey is with the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, and she answered best she could for now.
“As we build out our website later in the fall it’ll have more of the timelines of different phases for applications, who can apply when and we will be doing more proactive outreach in terms of outreach, webinars, other ways we can try and get information to people in different ways,” Casey told the committee.
The window to apply will open in early 2027, with the first licenses distributed in May and at least 55 retail locations licensed and up and running by July 1.
