Recapping Virginia’s CCA January Meeting

What we know and what we’re still waiting for

January 7, 2026 brought us a new Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors meeting and we’re going to break down what we’ve learned and what we can expect in probably the single hottest prospective cannabis market in 2026.

Bills are being introduced

We’ve already gotten SB 12, SB 62, and HB 75 introduced this year which address law enforcement, previous cannabis convictions, and access to medical cannabis at medical care facilities. But one noticeable bill is missing…

Still waiting on THE actual bill

The adult-use legalization bill has yet to be introduced. However, we anticipate the bill to be filed as soon as this week. The likely sponsors are Delegate Paul Krizek and Senators Louise Lucas and Aaron Rouse who sponsored the adult-use legislation from 2025 that was vetoed by then Governor Glenn Youngkin. We do know a few key details though.

What to expect

We have now consistently heard of the timeline for anticipated adult-use cannabis licensing and anticipated start to retail sales. Applications will begin for certain license types as soon as July 1. Licenses will begin being issued September 1 and retail sales starting on November 1.            

As for licensing types, anticipate the following:

• Retail

• Processing

• Cultivation (tiers 1-5)

• Hybrid

• Testing

• Transporter

There are going to be caps on licenses too. So far, it’s anticipated there will only be 350 retail licenses issues and 10 tier 5 cultivation licenses with other limits to come.

Additionally, there will be changes to the “microbusiness” license from 2025 which will now be an “Impact Licensee” for qualifying applications. But micro licenses aren’t entirely going away as there is planned to be a temporary microbusiness license program to jumpstart the adult-use program, a unique license type that we have not seen previously.