republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/hb-1862.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabis oil."
description: "Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabis oil. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, or discriminating against an employee for such employee's lawful use of cannabis oil pursuant to a valid written certification issued by a practitioner for the treatment or to eliminate the symptoms of the employee's diagnosed condition or disease. The bill provides that such prohibition does not (i) restrict an employer's ability to take any adverse employment action for any work impairment caused by the use of cannabis oil or to prohibit possession during work hours or (ii) require an employer to commit any act that would cause the employer to be in violation of federal law or that would result in the loss of a federal contract or federal funding."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1862"
citation: "Virginia HB 1862 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dan I. Helmer"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 36
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-01-07"
last_action: "2021-03-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c0643e9a-e169-44dd-8750-5ca03989d99d"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB1862"
source_hash: "00038152f36eb0d88ea726eb46beed9d41872543609250bddd470b4ade2f99a2"
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 HB 1862 (2021) — Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabis oil.

Employee protections; medicinal use of cannabis oil. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, or discriminating against an employee for such employee's lawful use of cannabis oil pursuant to a valid written certification issued by a practitioner for the treatment or to eliminate the symptoms of the employee's diagnosed condition or disease. The bill provides that such prohibition does not (i) restrict an employer's ability to take any adverse employment action for any work impairment caused by the use of cannabis oil or to prohibit possession during work hours or (ii) require an employer to commit any act that would cause the employer to be in violation of federal law or that would result in the loss of a federal contract or federal funding.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0395** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0395)
2. **HB1862ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1862ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101426D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1862)
4. **Printed as engrossed 21101426D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1862E)

## Votes

- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (86-Y 12-N 1-A) — **85–12** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Commerce and Labor with amendments (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) (18-Y 4-N) — **18–4** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with amendments (26-Y 13-N) — **26–13** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (5-Y 2-N) — **5–2** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (79-Y 18-N) — **78–18** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Dan I. Helmer — primary (person)
- Charniele L. Herring — cosponsor (person)
- Dawn M. Adams — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth R. Guzman — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101426D `introduction`
- **2021-01-07** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-14** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-18** Impact statement from DPB (HB1862)
- **2021-01-26** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-26** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (5-Y 2-N)
- **2021-01-28** Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) (18-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-29** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-01** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2021-02-01** Engrossed by House as amended HB1862E
- **2021-02-01** Printed as engrossed 21101426D-E
- **2021-02-02** Read third time and passed House (86-Y 12-N 1-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-02** VOTE: Passage (86-Y 12-N 1-A)
- **2021-02-03** Impact statement from DPB (HB1862E)
- **2021-02-03** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-02-03** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-22** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-22** Reported from Commerce and Labor with amendments (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-22** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-23** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-24** Reading of amendments waived
- **2021-02-24** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2021-02-24** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2021-02-24** Passed Senate with amendments (26-Y 13-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-25** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-25** Senate amendments agreed to by House (79-Y 18-N)
- **2021-02-25** VOTE: Adoption (79-Y 18-N)
- **2021-03-09** Enrolled
- **2021-03-09** Signed by President
- **2021-03-11** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-03-15** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 15, 2021
- **2021-03-15** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-25** Approved by Governor-Chapter 395 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c0643e9a-e169-44dd-8750-5ca03989d99d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).