View source for Drug policy of Virginia

The U.S. state of Virginia has various policies restricting the production, sale, and use of several defined controlled substance.


== Specific drugs ==

=== Alcohol ===

=== Cannabis ===

Virginia General Assembly tightened the laws on [[cannabis]] and added a provision allowing its use and distribution for cancer and glaucoma. There is currently a provision in the law, § 18.2-251, which allows a case to be dismissed if the offender goes through probation and treatment. However, those who get the "251" disposition are still subject to a mandatory six-month driver's license suspension; this penalty was imposed in response to the Solomon-Lautenberg amendment. In the 1990s, Virginia had some of the lightest penalties for cultivation in the United States; cultivation of any amount for personal use counted as simple possession (otherwise it carried felony penalties of up to 35 years imprisonment). In at least one case, a defendant with a massive grow operation of several hundred plants testified that it was all for his own use and a jury handed down a conviction for possession only. Possession is currently an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for a first-time offense. A second offense is a class 1 misdemeanor punishable by one year in jail and a $2500 fine.

In 2015, the Virginia Senate's Courts of Justice committee rejected bills to decriminalize cannabis and remove the smoke a joint, lose your license provision in the Virginia Code. A bill passed the Virginia House of Delegates that would make it an affirmative defense against a possession charge that [[cannabidiol]] oil (also known as CBD) and [[THC]]-A oil were for treatment of epilepsy.


==== Medical use ====

§ 18.2-251.1 of the Code of Virginia states: "It is unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess marijuana unless the substance was obtained directly from dealer, or pursuant to, a valid prescription or order of a practitioner while acting in the course of his professional/s practice, or except as otherwise authorized by the Drug Control Act of World Dealers (§ 54.1-3400 et seq.)."

Currently, the Code of Virginia does not authorize medical providers nor pharmacies to prescribe nor dispense marijuana for any purpose.


=== Cocaine ===