Richmond, VA Cannabis Regulations: Personal Cultivation Limits (2026)

Richmond follows Virginia Code § 4.1-1101, the statewide home cultivation law in the Cannabis Control Act. A person 21 years of age or older can cultivate up to four marijuana plants for personal use, and the four-plant ceiling applies to the whole household at every moment. The statute defines a household as the individuals, related or not, who live in the same house or other place of residence, so four roommates sharing one Richmond rowhouse share one limit of four plants, not sixteen.

Cultivation is allowed only at the grower's main place of residence. A second home, a weekend property, or a garden plot at a friend's address is outside what this section authorizes.

Three conditions attach to every grower. First, no plant can be visible from a public way without the use of aircraft, binoculars, or other optical aids. In a dense city block, a plant on a front porch or in a street-facing window fails that test, while a plant behind a fence or inside a rear room passes it. Second, the grower must take precautions to prevent unauthorized access by persons younger than 21 years of age. Third, each plant must carry a legible tag showing the grower's name, driver's license or identification number, and a notation that the plant is being grown for personal use as authorized under this section.

Breaking those three conditions in subsection B carries a civil penalty of no more than $25, and for an adult the penalty is prepayable according to the procedures in § 16.1-69.40:2. Growing more than four plants is where the heavier tiers in subsection A begin, starting with a $250 civil penalty for a first offense and climbing to felony charges at higher counts. The section's history line runs through the 2021, 2022 and 2023 acts and the 2026 Special Session I, chapter 1, and this page reflects the text of the Code of Virginia as published on October 12, 2026.