republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-885.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Performance of laboratory analysis; cannabidiol oil, THC-A oil, tetrahydrocannabinol."
description: "Performance of laboratory analysis; cannabidioloil; THC-A oil; tetrahydrocannabinol. Provides that no person employed by an analytical laboratory to retrieve, deliver, or possess cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil samples from a permitted pharmaceuticalprocessor for performing required testing shall be prosecuted forthe possession or distribution of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil forstoring cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil for testing purposes in accordancewith regulations promulgated by the Board of Pharmacy. The bill requirespractitioners to register with the Board of Pharmacy to conduct laboratoryanalysis on tetrahydrocannabinol or marijuana and exempts practitionersconducting laboratory research on tetrahydrocannabinol from furnishingevidence of federal registration. The bill contains an emergencyclause."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 885"
citation: "Virginia SB 885 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David W. Marsden"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 27
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/23a14074-22e4-4396-8dc2-eb4e36156faa"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB885"
source_hash: "0a3a00759601e56ee1a258ccddbcef194652827718683146bd45eca951974d86"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 885 (2020) — Performance of laboratory analysis; cannabidiol oil, THC-A oil, tetrahydrocannabinol.

Performance of laboratory analysis; cannabidioloil; THC-A oil; tetrahydrocannabinol. Provides that no person employed by an analytical laboratory to retrieve, deliver, or possess cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil samples from a permitted pharmaceuticalprocessor for performing required testing shall be prosecuted forthe possession or distribution of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil forstoring cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil for testing purposes in accordancewith regulations promulgated by the Board of Pharmacy. The bill requirespractitioners to register with the Board of Pharmacy to conduct laboratoryanalysis on tetrahydrocannabinol or marijuana and exempts practitionersconducting laboratory research on tetrahydrocannabinol from furnishingevidence of federal registration. The bill contains an emergencyclause.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0941)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0941)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB885ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB885ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB885S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB885)
4. **Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB885S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB885S1)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Education and Health with substitute (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- David W. Marsden — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed with emergency clause; offered 01/08/20 20104851D `introduction`
- **2020-01-08** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-20** Assigned Education sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-30** Reported from Education and Health with substitute (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-30** Committee substitute printed 20106151D-S1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-03** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-02-03** Committee substitute agreed to 20106151D-S1
- **2020-02-03** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB885S1
- **2020-02-04** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-05** Impact statement from DPB (SB885S1)
- **2020-02-21** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-21** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-21** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-25** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-27** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-28** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-28** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-28** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-05** Enrolled
- **2020-03-05** Impact statement from DPB (SB885ER)
- **2020-03-06** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-07** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 941 (effective 4/9/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/23a14074-22e4-4396-8dc2-eb4e36156faa`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).