Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have legalized the sale of recreational cannabis.

In his veto statement, the governor said the law that would have allowed for a state-regulated marketplace for recreational cannabis “endangers Virginians’ health and safety,” torpedoing the idea that the law would eliminate black markets.

“States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far exceed tax revenue,” he said.

Marijuana plants are close to harvest in a grow room at the Greenleaf Medical Cannabis facility in Richmond, VA, on June 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

According to the Hill, the legislation passed the state legislatures last month and would “have allowed the state to begin accepting applications on Sept. 1 for cultivation, testing and selling marijuana for the market to open on May 1, 2025.”

“The law came nearly three years after Virginia became the first Southern state to legalize marijuana through a policy change that permitted adults 21 and older to possess and cultivate the drug,” it noted.

Youngkin told reporters in January of his hopes that lawmakers will focus on issues that better the state of Virginia.