The Virginia alcohol industry is saying that a plan to use Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority special agents to help launch the state’s retail marijuana market could weaken oversight of the state’s existing alcohol system.
A coalition of alcohol industry groups sent a letter to Gov. Abigail Spanberger raising concerns about a provision in the recently negotiated cannabis compromise that allows the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to request temporary assistance from ABC special agents while building its own enforcement capabilities.
The provision requires ABC and the Cannabis Control Authority, in coordination with the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, to develop a plan outlining their future roles in regulating and enforcing Virginia’s retail marijuana market. It also requires the agencies to enter into a temporary memorandum of understanding allowing ABC to assist the Cannabis Control Authority through “the temporary assignment or use of ABC special agents as requested by the Authority.”
The alcohol industry argues the language is too broad and does not specify how many agents could be reassigned, how long they could serve with the Cannabis Control Authority or how ABC would replace those personnel.
“Removal of alcohol agents from ABC puts the safety of all alcohol consuming Virginians at risk,” the groups wrote in the letter.
The coalition includes the Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association, Virginia Craft Brewers Guild, Virginia Spirits Association, Virginia Wineries Association and other alcohol and retail organizations.
The groups said they support creating a regulated adult-use cannabis market but argue it should not come at the expense of alcohol enforcement.
“ABC should be a resource for the new agency, offering expertise and knowledge with a shared goal of public safety and enforcement,” the letter states. “But removal of ABC agents to CCA puts the safety of all alcohol consuming Virginians at risk.”
Phil Boykin, the president of the Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association, told Virginia Scope during an interview on Thursday that the ambiguity of the language is most concerning.
“We don’t know how many agents, we don’t know the time frame,” he said.
While noting that he believes ABC should have a role in the oversight of the cannabis industry, he also said, “You can’t just take our agents without having a conversation.”
ABC currently oversees more than 30,000 active alcoholic beverage licenses across Virginia. The industry groups argue the agency’s enforcement division is largely funded through fees and penalties paid by alcohol licensees.
According to the letter, ABC’s law enforcement, compliance and hearings operations cost roughly $22.6 million, with more than $20.3 million coming from licensing fees and penalties.
Boykin said they have no details on whether ABC will continue to have to pay agents if they are pulled to work for the CCA.
The groups said those investments helped build a “better-staffed, more efficient, more responsive ABC Bureau of Law Enforcement” and warned that shifting agents to cannabis enforcement could increase workloads for remaining ABC personnel.
“Taking resources away from enforcement, to think that that’s not going to diminish or impact enforcement is naive,” Boykin said.
The cannabis compromise creates this temporary arrangement while the cannabis agency develops its own enforcement structure.
Under the agreement, ABC agents assisting the Cannabis Control Authority would remain under the oversight of the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and would only operate “to the extent and for such purposes as requested by the Authority.”
The agencies must submit a long-term organizational plan to the governor and legislative leaders by July 1, 2027. That plan must examine the agencies’ current structures, areas of shared authority, staffing needs, costs and potential recommendations for changes.
The temporary memorandum of understanding between ABC and the Cannabis Control Authority must be completed by March 1, 2027, and expire no later than March 1, 2029.
The letter comes as Virginia prepares for the implementation of a regulated retail marijuana market after years of debate over how the state should oversee cannabis sales and enforcement.
The alcohol industry said ABC’s experience regulating a controlled substance market could help the new cannabis system succeed but argued lawmakers should provide more clarity before requiring ABC agents to take on additional duties.
“We support a well-regulated cannabis marketplace; we only wish that it were not done at the expense of alcohol’s success,” the groups wrote.
In a statement to Virginia Scope, when asked for a response to the letter, a spokesperson for Spanberger said the governor is “committed to implementing a safe, legal, and well-regulated cannabis marketplace in Virginia that protects consumers and kids, targets the illicit market with clear enforcement and regulatory authority, and creates a competitive market for small businesses and entrepreneurs. As a former federal law enforcement officer, the Governor recognizes the need to make sure state agencies have the resources to ensure strong enforcement of all controlled substances — including cannabis, alcohol, liquid nicotine, and retail tobacco products.”