Valerie Slater, executive director of RISE for Youth, told the Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market earlier last week that Virginia lawmakers should reconsider higher penalties for public marijuana use, saying the changes could place a disproportionate burden on young people, their families and Black communities before the adult-use market opens on July 1, 2027. The maximum civil penalty for consuming or offering marijuana in public is set to rise from $25 to $250 on July 1, 2027, the same day retail sales are scheduled to begin.
RISE for Youth urges Virginia lawmakers to keep $25 public marijuana fine
Valerie Slater, executive director of RISE for Youth, told the Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market earlier last week that Virginia lawmakers should reconsider higher penalties for public marijuana use, saying the changes could place a disproportionate burden on young people, their families and Black communities before the adult-use market opens on July 1, 2027. The maximum civil penalty for consuming or offering marijuana in public is set to rise from $25 to $250 on July 1, 2027, the same day retail sales are scheduled to begin.
Under the scheduled change, a second offense also carries a $250 fine and requires substance-use education or treatment, or both, if available. A third or subsequent offense is a Class 4 misdemeanor.
Slater's presentation was one part of a broader commission meeting that also examined marijuana offense trends and plans for enforcing the new market. The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority is expected to lead that work, with temporary assistance from the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Authority while the cannabis agency builds its enforcement staff.
Marijuana-related juvenile intake complaints fell 30 percent between fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2024, from about 2,700 to 1,904, according to Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice data cited by RISE for Youth. But the share originating in schools rose from 17 percent to 54 percent, while the share involving 16- and 17-year-olds fell from 68 percent to 48 percent, indicating a shift toward younger adolescents. Girls also grew from 25 percent to 30 percent of the youth involved in marijuana-related complaints, although the decline in total complaints means the figures do not necessarily show an increase in the number of girls referred. Slater said: 'We did not stop enforcing, just where we went with it changed. We stopped looking at the community, and we started looking at schools.'
Current Virginia law separately imposes a civil penalty of up to $25 and mandatory education or treatment for underage marijuana possession or consumption. Possessing or consuming marijuana on public school grounds during school hours or activities can be charged as a Class 2 misdemeanor. Slater warned that a young person could face several consequences from the same incident, including school discipline, juvenile intake, the underage penalty and the higher public-consumption fine. Whether those provisions could overlap would depend on the circumstances and how authorities decide to charge the case. Slater said: 'It's not going to be that middle schooler who's going to be paying for it. It's going to be their family. That's who's going to shoulder that burden.'
Slater also noted Black Virginians make up about 19 percent of the state's population but accounted for 47.7 percent of public-use citations in data analyzed by RISE for Youth. She said: 'If Black Virginians only make up 19 percent, how is it that they are 47.7 percent of those who are receiving the citations?' She added: 'If indeed 47.7 percent of all of the public-consumption citations are against Black Americans, then we move now to $250 as the amount that is being assessed against Virginians, I can promise you, that's a whole lot of money.'
RISE for Youth's written report also pointed to disparities throughout Virginia's juvenile justice system. In fiscal 2025, Black youth represented 44.2 percent of intake cases, 53.4 percent of detainments and 70.9 percent of direct-care placements, according to DJJ data cited in the report. The figures measure different groups at separate stages of the system and do not establish that marijuana enforcement caused the disparities. Slater argued, however, that they show the risks of increasing penalties within a system where Black youths already experience disproportionate outcomes.
RISE for Youth asked lawmakers to leave the public-consumption fine at $25. If the increase remains, Slater said, minors should be explicitly exempted. RISE for Youth also wants lawmakers to eliminate criminal penalties and delinquency treatment for youth marijuana possession and consumption, adopt a cannabis education curriculum developed by Stanford Medicine and dedicate 30 percent of retail marijuana tax revenue to youth education, treatment and other services administered by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Slater said: 'Why are children using, not how can we get money out of our families?' and 'Why are children using, and what should we be doing to ensure that they are not using?'
Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, said the presentation placed firm numbers alongside experiences long described by affected communities. She said: 'It does not come as any surprise based on what was happening to the adults, but it is sickening and disheartening to see that it is following our youth.'
Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, who sponsored the cannabis retail legislation in the House, said lawmakers should focus on changing behavior rather than increasing a penalty that has not been shown to work. He said: 'Having data that shows $25 doesn't work, $250 is just going to double down on something that's not working.' He also raised concerns that unpaid fines could be sent to collection agencies, potentially damaging young people's credit before they turn 18 or leaving their families responsible for the debt. He said: 'It's a bad cycle, and we all know it is, and so we need to figure out what we can do that will change that.' He added that revenue from legal sales could support educational programs for young people.
Separate data presented by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission showed that marijuana possession charges under the state's former criminal statute have nearly disappeared, falling from 31,837 in fiscal 2018 to three in fiscal 2026. The commission's principal measure of marijuana distribution charges also declined from 5,439 in fiscal 2019 to 1,342 in fiscal 2026. The figures do not include Fairfax Circuit Court or juvenile court data.
This story was first published by Virginia Mercury.
- The source does not state the exact date of the Joint Commission meeting beyond 'earlier last week.'
- The source does not state whether the Joint Commission, the Virginia General Assembly or the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority will act on RISE for Youth's requests, or when.
- The source does not identify any lawmaker, state official or organization that supports raising the maximum public-consumption fine from $25 to $250 or provide that side's rationale.
- The source does not state whether the 47.7 percent public-use citation figure applies to adults, juveniles or both.
- The source does not state the total number of public-use citations or the full demographic data behind the 19 percent and 47.7 percent figures.
- The source does not state whether the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Authority or the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice was asked to respond to the advocates' criticism.
Read the original at Marijuana Moment