Bored kids with nothing much to do this summer just got a big gift from Virginia Democrats – starting about 10 days ago, they've apparently been able to legally purchase marijuana. And that's because the Democrats who run the General Assembly, and the one who occupies the Governor's Mansion, passed and signed a budget last month that rescinded all criminal law pertaining to the sale of marijuana effective July 1, 2026. The only problem is the new laws they crafted regulating the weed market don't go into effect until July 1, 2027, per their budget. That leaves an entire year of marijuana mayhem in ye olde Commonwealth.
Part of the problem here is that Democrats stuffed a bunch of things, including the creation of a retail marijuana market, into the budget in order to bypass debate. The retail market is set to begin next year, but it seems the Dems' proofreader may have been hitting the wacky tobacky too hard and failed to notice the dates included in the budget created a full year without regulation.
A former Republican delegate and lawyer, Tim Anderson, noticed the discrepancy and brought the receipts.
Selling marijuana to kids is now legal thanks to the nitwits in Richmond who have no idea what they are doing pic.twitter.com/ZKaTGaC5Gn
— Tim Anderson (@AssocAnderson) July 7, 2026
As Anderson noted in his video, the Democrat botch means there are currently "no criminal laws dealing with marijuana."
Jason Miyares, the former Republican attorney general of Virginia, laid into Virginia Democrats for their dunderheaded oversight, writing on X, "This is not a minor technical glitch. This is what happens when ideology outruns competence."
STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR SPANBERGER'S MARIJUANA BUDGET DEBACLE
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) July 8, 2026
I warned that rushing marijuana commercialization through Virginia would lead to reckless governing. This week, that warning came true in the worst possible way.
Governor Abigail Spanberger and the far-left majority in…
I warned that rushing marijuana commercialization through Virginia would lead to reckless governing. This week, that warning came true in the worst possible way.
Governor Abigail Spanberger and the far-left majority in the General Assembly jammed their marijuana retail scheme into the state budget instead of allowing it to go through the normal legislative process, where it could have received the scrutiny it deserved. Now we know the cost of that shortcut: according to Williamsburg-James City Commonwealth's Attorney Nate Green, former president of the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, the drafting is so sloppy that Virginia's own prosecutors are warning the law banning marijuana distribution, and the law protecting Virginians under 21 from possessing marijuana, may have already been repealed a full year earlier than anyone intended.
Let that sink in.
Because far left Democrats chose to legislate drug policy through a budget bill instead of a real bill with real hearings, prosecutors across this Commonwealth are now uncertain whether they can even enforce the law against selling marijuana to a minor. Mr. Green himself said it plainly: courts resolve ambiguity against prosecutors, and defense attorneys already have grounds to argue these protections no longer exist.
This is not a minor technical glitch. This is what happens when ideology outruns competence. Governor Spanberger and legislative Democrats were so determined to deliver a marijuana retail market that they didn't take the time to make sure basic child-protection statutes stayed on the books in the meantime.
Virginia families deserve better than a government that can't be bothered to get the details right when the details involve protecting kids from drug dealers.
I am calling on Governor Spanberger and the General Assembly to: immediately acknowledge this drafting failure and call a special session without delay to close this gap and restore certainty that distributing marijuana to a minor remains a crime in Virginia;
Virginians were told this marketplace would be built "safely and responsibly." Instead, the first real-world test of this policy is a mess entirely of the majority's own making.
The people of Virginia deserve a government that gets this right, not one that has to be told by its own prosecutors that it may have accidentally legalized selling drugs to children.
It gets worse. The Virginia State Police were left without guidance on how to proceed, so an email went out this week advising, "As of July 1, 2026, there are no Code of Virginia violations related to marijuana."
Stoner kids everywhere rejoiced.
SEE ALSO: A Virginia Judge Just Body-Slammed Spanberger's Gun Grab
DOJ Scores Early Court Win Against Virginia's New Anti-Mask Law
Democrats and their water carriers in the media said it was all much ado about nothing and conservatives were spreading misinformation. "The Code Commission" had stepped in, they insisted, to make sure the current laws don't expire until next year.
Not so fast, says Tim Anderson. The Code Commission can't do that.
So the Code Commission “fixed” the mistake that “didn’t exist” for which I was “spreading
— Tim Anderson (@AssocAnderson) July 10, 2026
Misinformation ”
Except… well it can’t.
The Code Commission can make very minor corrections. Like a small typographical error.
What they can’t do - They can’t add a delayed enactment… pic.twitter.com/S16pCVgaxP
So the Code Commission “fixed” the mistake that “didn’t exist” for which I was “spreading Misinformation ”
Except… well it can’t.
The Code Commission can make very minor corrections. Like a small typographical error.
What they can’t do - They can’t add a delayed enactment that was left off.
The Code Commission broke the law - clearly under pressure from Democrats saying there was never a problem to begin with and who have said for two days now I am making all this up.
A lawsuit needs to be filed. The actions of the Code Commission are ultra vires.
The bottom line is the Democrat screwed up. It can be fixed, but it has to be fixed by an act of the general assembly, not by some nitwit knucklehead in the code commission who thinks that they can just cover it up with the stroke of a pen.
There are no marijuana laws in Virginia and any Judge presiding over a criminal case is going to make that finding despite this blatant desperate attempt to cover up a screwup.
So, where does this leave us? Kids may or may not be able to toke up this summer, no one's really sure. We are quite certain, however, that the Democrat Party running Virginia cannot be trusted with anything requiring proofreading, calendar skills, or a basic command of the English language.
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