PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A prominent Virginia state senator who has championed cannabis reform throughout her political career now finds herself at the center of a federal investigation after law enforcement raided her marijuana business this week.
Senator L. Louise Lucas, known for her passionate advocacy on cannabis legalization, has built much of her legislative agenda around reforming drug laws that she believes unfairly target African American communities. Her commitment to the cause led her not only to author legalization legislation but also to establish her own cannabis retail operation.
Federal agents conducted a court-authorized search at Lucas’s business on Wednesday, though the FBI has not disclosed the specific focus of their investigation. The raid has thrust the longtime politician’s three-decade career back into the spotlight.
Lucas made history in 2019 when she became Virginia’s first Black woman to serve as Senate president pro tempore following the Democratic takeover of the chamber.
Her political journey has not been without controversy. In 2020, she faced felony accusations related to her participation in a demonstration against a Confederate memorial, though a judge ultimately threw out those charges.
A Portsmouth native, Lucas broke barriers early in her career as the first woman to work as a ship fitter at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, according to state library records. She currently leads a Portsmouth company that provides housing, daily programming, and transportation services for adults with intellectual disabilities.
Lucas launched The Cannabis Outlet in her hometown of Portsmouth in 2021, selling legally permitted hemp and CBD merchandise.
“Let’s talk about pot,” Lucas wrote on social media platform X in 2022. “Yes, we legalized it and I even opened the Cannabis Outlet after we did! But the job isn’t done. People are still in jail for something that is legal today.”
Witnesses reported seeing an armored FBI vehicle and multiple federal agents at Lucas’s cannabis shop on Wednesday. The FBI confirmed only that agents were executing a court-approved search warrant in Portsmouth.
