Meet a Virginia-licensed practitioner online. If cannabis may help, your certification arrives digitally — and there's a licensed dispensary right here in town.
Virginia no longer has a separate state registration step, so the whole trip is three stops long.
Pick a time with a Virginia-licensed physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner.
Share your health history and symptoms. Your practitioner decides whether cannabis may benefit you.
Your certification is issued through the state's CCA Portal. Show it with your ID and you're set.
A short checklist for your first visit. Virginia dispensaries have a pharmacist on staff to help you choose products.
On your phone is fine — the dispensary scans its QR code.
Driver's license, state ID, passport, or military ID.
If your ID shows another state, bring a lease or utility bill with your Virginia address.
Some dispensaries ask new patients to sign up online before a first visit or order.
The only legal way to purchase from a Virginia dispensary today. Open to adults 18+, and to minors with a parent or guardian's consent. Valid for up to a year.
Virginia law sets that date as the first day retail sales can begin, for adults 21 and over. Licensing rules are still being written, and the medical program continues alongside it.
I commute into D.C. every day and didn't have time for an office appointment. Did the visit from my car at lunch and stopped by the dispensary on the way home.
Marcus B. · ManassasMy practitioner took the time to go over my back injury and the medications I was already on. It felt like real care.
Linda F. · Manassas ParkNo. Virginia leaves it to the practitioner to decide whether you have a condition or disease that may benefit from cannabis.
Virginia-licensed MDs and DOs, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners jointly licensed by the Boards of Nursing and Medicine.
No. Patient registration is no longer required. Your certification and a government ID are what the dispensary checks.
Up to one year, as set by your practitioner. You'll need a new evaluation after it expires.
Yes, if your practitioner adds them as a registered agent on your certification. A parent or guardian is listed for patients under 18.
On the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority website.
A state-licensed medical dispensary listed by the Cannabis Control Authority, staffed with a licensed pharmacist. Check its current hours, menu, and pickup or delivery options before you go.
Miles of mostly gentle trails across open fields and woods just outside the city — a quiet place for low-impact walking.
Manassas grew up around Manassas Junction, where two railroads met in the 1850s. The First and Second Battles of Manassas were fought just outside town during the Civil War, and the battlefield is now a national park. Manassas became an independent city in 1975, and its historic downtown still centers on the rail depot, now served by VRE commuter trains. Residents follow the same statewide medical cannabis process as all Virginians.
Section 54.1-3408.3 of the Code of Virginia permits licensed physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners to issue written certifications. The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority oversees the program and issues certifications through its CCA Portal.
Retail sales for adults 21+ can begin July 1, 2027. Until then, a certification is the only way to buy at a licensed dispensary, and the medical program continues after retail opens. Updates come from the Cannabis Control Authority.
Telehealth visits with Virginia-licensed practitioners.