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⚖️ Reference material only. Always verify with your state regulator and your compliance / legal team before finalizing packaging.
VA Virginia Adult-Use & Medical
State Compliance Guide

Virginia
Cannabis Packaging Requirements

Virginia cannabis packaging is regulated by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA). The market is adult-use (regs & apps due sept. 1, 2026 — retail sales july 1, 2027). Packaging must be child-resistant, must carry the state universal symbol, and must print 3 required warning statements. No pre-approval of artwork is required. Royal Supply last reviewed this guide against the regulation on September 1, 2026.

3Required Warnings
YesChild-Resistant
NoPre-Approval Needed
September 1, 2026Last Reviewed
Official symbol available from the state agencySTATE SYMBOLVIA OFFICIAL AGENCY
No public artwork download — obtain via the state agency
01 — The Mark

Universal Symbol Requirements

Symbol Specifications

SymbolVirginia Cannabis Symbol.
  • Medical: CCA-issued symbol, in force now.
  • Adult use: symbol required by statute, mark not yet issued.
Minimum SizeOne published dimension, medical only.
  • Medical vape cartridges: 1/4 inch wide by 1/4 inch high minimum, engraved, printed or stickered.
  • Other medical containers: no dimension given, only prominently displayed.
Notes on this section — 1
  • Adult use: no dimension published; expected with the January 2027 regulations.
ColorsNo color or contrast spec in Virginia rule.
  • Reproduce the medical mark as published - never recolor it.
  • Build contrast from the surrounding pack, not the symbol.
Notes on this section — 1
  • The contrast advice is Royal Supply's, not a Virginia requirement.
PlacementVirginia designates no panel on either program.
  • Medical: on each container and every layer - an inner pouch inside a carton needs one.
  • Adult use: stamped or embossed. Printing it on the front panel does not satisfy the rule.
  • Royal Supply house standard — Virginia sets no requirement here. Principal display panel.
How To ObtainNo public artwork download.
  • Medical: request the universal symbol image from the CCA and reproduce as published.
  • Adult use: no artwork released.
Notes on this section — 1
  • Watch cca.virginia.gov/laws and cca.virginia.gov/retailmarijuanamarket; January 2027 is the expected date.

Two symbols on two timelines.

  • Medical: reproduce the CCA symbol exactly as published.
  • Medical: one on each container and on every layer of packaging.
  • Adult use: stamped or embossed into the pack - structural, not printed.
Notes on this section — 2
  • No adult-use artwork, dimensions or file published; the medical symbol does not carry over.
  • Adult-use spec expected January 2027. Retail sales July 1, 2027.

Official Files & Links

No official downloadable artwork published — see symbol specs and the agency site.

Design & Print Specs

Symbol ColorsTBD
CMYK / PMSTBD
PlacementPrincipal display panel
Bold RequiredNo

Market not yet operational. No symbol artwork, dimensions or warning wording published as of September 1, 2026, the statutory deadline. Regulations expected effective January 2027; retail sales July 1, 2027.

02 — Say It Exactly

Warning Statements (3)

Statements marked Exact text required must be reproduced character for character — use the copy buttons. Those marked Required content are mandated by Virginia in substance only; you write the sentence.

Product
Same warning statements on every product type — this state does not vary them.
Market
Format
Options
Your warning block 
—
See every statement individually, with citations4
Royal Supply guidance1
Not required by the Cannabis Control Authority. Virginia has adopted no cannabis warning wording for either program, so this is Royal Supply's compliance-tested sentence, not state-mandated copy. It has not been confirmed as text that satisfies the medical child-and-safety-warning duty either, so do not strip it from live medical labels on the strength of this classification.
All product types. On medical artwork, keep this copy in place unless and until the CCA confirms what child and safety warnings it has approved.
Royal Supply recommended

Not required by Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA). This is Royal Supply's own compliance-tested language, offered as good practice.

WARNING: This product contains cannabis. For use only by adults 21 and older. Keep out of reach of children. Do not drive or operate machinery while under the influence. Cannabis use during pregnancy or breastfeeding may be harmful.
Adult use1
The statute is enacted; the gap is that rulemaking has not run. The Board has adopted no statement, so there is no Virginia sentence to set. Do not substitute another state's wording. Expected with the regulations effective January 2027. A catch-all separately ties packaging and labeling compliance to Board regulations that do not yet exist, which is a second reason to hold adult-use proofs.
Adult-use marijuana and marijuana products sold or offered for sale by a licensee to a consumer. Retail sales begin July 1, 2027.
Required content — your wording

Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) requires this information but does not fix the sentence. Write your own copy; the agency approves it.

Print the Board-adopted warning statement in bold print, clear and legible. No Virginia wording exists yet - hold adult-use proofs.
Medical1
The regulation fixes no sentence and does not name the approval route, so the licensee must confirm with the CCA how its warning text was approved and hand us that exact string, which we typeset unchanged. Do not cite s 4.1-1603.2 for this - that section governs cannabis product registration with the Board and entry of the national drug code into the Prescription Monitoring Program, not approval of warning text. Dispensing labels likewise require any necessary cautionary statement without prescribing wording.
Medical cannabis products only.
Required content — your wording

Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) requires this information but does not fix the sentence. Write your own copy; the agency approves it.

Print the child and safety warnings approved by the authority, in a conspicuous font. Set the licensee's approved string exactly as supplied.
Medical wholesale1
The regulation requires the prominent statement, character for character as shown. This is the only word-for-word print string in Virginia's cannabis labeling rules. Confirmed against law.lis.virginia.gov; because several section fetches returned summarized renderings on first pass, eyeball it once against the live section before plate release.
Medical program only, and only on bulk cannabis oil, botanical cannabis, or usable cannabis produced for wholesale distribution between pharmaceutical processors. Must never appear on a patient- or consumer-facing final-sale package.
Exact text required

Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) prescribes this wording. Reproduce it character for character, including capitalization and punctuation.

Not Packaged for Final Sale
03 — The Fine Print

Packaging & Labeling Rules

Child-ResistantBoth programs need child-resistant packaging, and the medical rule carries a written-request exception.
  • Adult use: child-resistant, tamper-evident, resealable and opaque - prepackaged, or placed in such packaging at the final point of sale.
  • Medical: child-resistant, tamper-resistant and light-resistant.
  • Medical child resistance is met under the federal Poison Prevention Packaging Act standard; the processor keeps the certificates of compliance.
  • Medical exception: a non-child-resistant container is allowed on written request of the patient, parent, legal guardian or registered agent, provided all labeling stays with the product. A non-CR medical dispensing SKU is legitimate.
  • Tamper-resistant means an indicator or barrier to entry that would show a reasonable person the package was breached.
Notes on this section — 1
  • Adult-use child resistance is statutory only. The Board's packaging chapter may add closure or testing detail when it publishes, expected January 2027.
Va. Code s 4.1-1405(B)(1); 3VAC10-70-55(A); 3VAC10-40-20(A); 16 CFR 1700.1(b)(4)
LabelingThe adult-use labeling chapter is not published, so only the statutory elements and the medical rules are settled today.
  • Adult use: a Board-adopted warning statement, prominently displayed in bold print, clear and legible.
  • Adult use: a universal symbol stamped or embossed on the packaging.
  • Adult use: nothing may obscure identifying information on the label, and no false or misleading label.
  • Medical: labels must be complete, accurate, easily discernible and uniform.
  • Medical: child and safety warnings approved by the authority, in a conspicuous font.
  • Medical dispensing label: any necessary cautionary statement, wording not fixed.
  • Medical wholesale only: print Not Packaged for Final Sale on bulk cannabis oil, botanical cannabis and usable cannabis moving between processors. Never on a consumer-facing package.
Notes on this section — 3
  • The Board has adopted neither the warning statement nor the symbol artwork - hold adult-use proofs.
  • A catch-all makes adult-use compliance turn on Board regulations that do not yet exist.
  • Expect the usual identity, potency and ingredient panel copy, but treat the adult-use element list as unsettled until the chapter publishes, currently scheduled effective January 2027.
Va. Code s 4.1-1405(A), (C); s 4.1-1603.1; 3VAC10-70-20(B)(3)(d); 3VAC10-70-30(B)(3)(d); 3VAC10-70-45
THC SymbolBoth programs require a universal symbol, and the adult-use one is a tooling job rather than a printing job.
  • Medical vaporizer cartridges: symbol no smaller than 1/4 inch wide by 1/4 inch high, engraved, printed or affixed with a sticker. This can drive a die line.
  • Medical: reproduce the CCA-issued symbol image exactly as published.
  • Medical: display it prominently on each container and on every layer of packaging - an inner pouch inside a printed carton needs one too.
  • Adult use: the symbol must be stamped or embossed into the packaging. Budget tooling and structural change, not artwork alone.
Notes on this section — 2
  • No adult-use symbol artwork, dimensions or file has been published. Do not assume the medical symbol carries over.
  • Adult-use specification expected with the regulations scheduled effective January 2027.
Va. Code s 4.1-1405(A)(8); s 4.1-1406(A)(5); 3VAC10-70-10; 3VAC10-70-20(A), (E)
Health WarningsVirginia has no printable health-warning sentence on either program; what it has is a list of packaging and artwork prohibitions.
  • Adult use: nothing labeled or packaged in a manner that appeals particularly to persons younger than 21.
  • Adult use: no package or label that depicts, or models the shape of, a human, animal, vehicle or fruit. This reaches the container form - fruit-shaped gummy tubes, animal-shaped tins and vehicle-shaped novelty packs are out regardless of print.
  • Adult use: no other maker's trademark, trade name or famous mark without authorization, and nothing violating federal trademark law.
  • Adult use: nothing that obscures identifying information, and no false or misleading label.
  • Medical: no reasonable resemblance to trademarked, characteristic or product-specialized packaging of any commercially available candy, snack, baked good or beverage.
  • Medical: nothing designed in any manner to be especially appealing to persons younger than 21.
  • Do not fill the warning gap by importing another state's health-warning sentence.
Notes on this section — 2
  • Characteristic reaches generic trade dress carrying no registered mark, so a pack that merely evokes a candy wrapper or snack bag is prohibited. Reasonable resemblance is the operative test.
  • An adult-use catch-all subjects packaging and labeling to any other Board requirements, none adopted yet.
Va. Code s 4.1-1405(C); 3VAC10-70-55(B)
Serving SizeEdibles cap at 10 mg THC per serving and 100 mg per package - the national norm, not an outlier.
  • Edible marijuana products: 10 mg THC maximum per serving.
  • Edible marijuana products: 100 mg THC maximum per package.
  • Multiserving liquid products: an integral measurement component in the closure - graduated dropper, dosing cap or syringe - so a serving can be measured from the package.
Notes on this section — 1
  • The Board cannot set limits beyond those figures and must set an equivalent amount for other product types where practicable. Those equivalents are not published yet.
Va. Code s 4.1-1406(A)(6); s 4.1-606(B)(7); s 4.1-1405(B)(2)
Opaque PackagingAdult use only needs opaque; medical needs the tougher, costlier light-resistant spec.
  • Adult use: packaging must be opaque, so the product cannot be seen through it. Plain opaque stock satisfies the rule.
  • Medical: packaging must be light-resistant - entirely and uniformly opaque, protecting the whole of its contents from the effects of light.
Va. Code s 4.1-1405(B)(1); 3VAC10-70-55(A)(3)
ResealableAnything meant for more than one use has to reseal.
  • Resealable closure required on products intended for more than single use or containing multiple servings.
  • Adult-use packs must be resealable as well as child-resistant, tamper-evident and opaque.
  • The closure must still meet the federal child-resistant packaging standard, not merely close again.
Notes on this section — 1
  • Adult-use regulations may add reseal, closure or re-test detail when the Board's chapter publishes.
Va. Code s 4.1-1405(B)(1); 16 CFR 1700.1(b)(4)
Notable RulesVirginia is not selling adult-use marijuana yet - the whole entry is a calendar, and January 2027 is the date that matters for a first print run.
  • September 2026: draft regulations released.
  • October to December 2026: advisory council review; regulations finalized December 2026.
  • January 2027: regulations published and effective. Warning wording and adult-use symbol artwork expected here.
  • February 1, 2027: conversion applications open for pharmaceutical processors and hemp processors or growers, plus some microbusiness licenses. This is not general retail licensing.
  • May 1, 2027: certain preliminary licenses issued. July 1, 2027: retail sales begin.
  • Edible limits: 10 mg THC per serving, 100 mg per package. Standard retail licenses capped at 350 statewide.
  • Hemp: from August 15, 2026 the 25:1 CBD:THC ratio exception is eliminated - no hemp product over 2 mg total THC per package.
  • Hemp product regulation transfers from VDACS to the CCA around August 2026.
  • New law adds CCA enforcement powers and requires an official CCA decal for licensed retailers.
  • Packaging must meet FDA Current Good Manufacturing Practice standards.
Before you print
  • Medical packaging and labeling amendments took effect March 9, 2026. Confirm currency before treating this entry as current-as-of.
Notes on this section — 4
  • Checked September 1, 2026 — the statutory deadline itself. The CCA has published no draft or final adult-use packaging or labeling regulation, no symbol artwork and no warning wording. Its Retail Marijuana Market page still shows the same schedule it showed in August: draft regulations September 2026, finalized December 2026, effective January 2027, conversion applications February 1, 2027, preliminary licenses May 1, 2027, retail sales July 1, 2027. The laws and regulations page lists only the medical chapter.
  • So the September 1, 2026 statutory deadline for promulgating regulations and opening applications has arrived with nothing promulgated. That gap does not move the July 1, 2027 sales date, but it compresses everything between: a customer planning a first print run should treat January 2027 as the earliest date the specifications can exist, and should not assume the agency schedule has slack in it.
  • The milestone dates come from a CCA webpage rather than a rule and can move without a rulemaking. Re-verify before a customer builds a production schedule on one.
  • Enactment attribution is unreconciled: the codified section carries the history line 2026, Sp. Sess. I, c. 1, while the CCA credits a 2026 General Assembly bill. Do not cite either as the originating instrument without checking.
Va. Code Title 4.1; 3VAC10-70 (amended effective March 9, 2026); cca.virginia.gov/retailmarijuanamarket
04 — Quick Answers

Virginia Packaging FAQ

What universal symbol is required on cannabis packaging in Virginia?
Virginia requires the Virginia Cannabis Symbol. Medical: CCA-issued symbol, in force now. Adult use: symbol required by statute, mark not yet issued.. Minimum size: One published dimension, medical only. Medical vape cartridges: 1/4 inch wide by 1/4 inch high minimum, engraved, printed or stickered. Other medical containers: no dimension given, only prominently displayed.. Placement: Virginia designates no panel on either program. Medical: on each container and every layer - an inner pouch inside a carton needs one. Adult use: stamped or embossed. Printing it on the front panel does not satisfy the rule. Royal Supply house standard — Virginia sets no requirement here. Principal display panel..
Is child-resistant packaging required in Virginia?
Both programs need child-resistant packaging, and the medical rule carries a written-request exception. Adult use: child-resistant, tamper-evident, resealable and opaque - prepackaged, or placed in such packaging at the final point of sale. Medical: child-resistant, tamper-resistant and light-resistant. Medical child resistance is met under the federal Poison Prevention Packaging Act standard; the processor keeps the certificates of compliance. Medical exception: a non-child-resistant container is allowed on written request of the patient, parent, legal guardian or registered agent, provided all labeling stays with the product. A non-CR medical dispensing SKU is legitimate. Tamper-resistant means an indicator or barrier to entry that would show a reasonable person the package was breached.
What warning statements are required on Virginia cannabis packaging?
Virginia prescribes exact wording for 1 warning statement(s) and requires a further 2 by content, where the licensee writes the sentence. Both are set out on this page.
05 — Receipts

Sources & Citations

  • Adult use (statute in force, rules pending) - Va. Code Title 4.1 Ch. 14, ss 4.1-1405 (packaging and labeling) and 4.1-1406 (product limits), plus s 4.1-606 (limits on Board regulation), at law.lis.virginia.gov
  • Medical (in force) - 3VAC10-70 (packaging and labeling: -10, -20, -30, -45, -55) and 3VAC10-40-20(A) (dispensing containers), as amended effective March 9, 2026
  • Medical statute - Va. Code Title 4.1 Ch. 16, Medical Cannabis Program: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title4.1/chapter16/
  • Virginia Cannabis Control Authority - laws and adopted regulations: https://cca.virginia.gov/laws
  • Virginia Cannabis Control Authority - Retail Marijuana Market regulatory and licensing timeline (agency webpage, not codified rule): https://cca.virginia.gov/retailmarijuanamarket
  • Federal - 16 CFR 1700.1(b)(4) (Poison Prevention Packaging Act child-resistance standard, cross-referenced by 3VAC10-70-55(A))

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Reference material only — not legal advice. Verify all requirements with Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) and your compliance / legal team before production.
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