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Northam Hopes To Bring Legal Recreational Marijuana To Virginia In 2021

Anya Sczerzenie | December 7, 2020

Topics: Charniele Herring, General Assembly, Ralph Northam, Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act, Virginia marijuana laws, Virginia Marijuana Legalization Work Group

After signing a bill into law that decriminalized marijuana earlier this year, Governor Ralph Northam formally voiced his support for fully legalizing marijuana in Virginia next year. This is welcome news both for civil rights advocates and cannabis enthusiasts in the Commonwealth.

Recreational marijuana use may be legal in Virginia by 2021 — letting the Commonwealth join states such as Colorado and California, as well as neighboring Washington DC, that allow their residents to freely use cannabis. 

Governor Ralph Northam released a report by the Virginia Marijuana Legalization Work Group on Monday, November 30, which outlines five key principles the governor wants to see in any proposed marijuana legislation. These principles are: social and racial equity, public health efforts to curb substance abuse in schools, age limits and ID checks for marijuana purchasers, upholding the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act — which prohibits cigarette smoking indoors — and ongoing data collection on health, safety, and equity.

House majority leader Charniele Herring sponsored the bill that decriminalized marijuana, which was passed during the 2020 session. Herring is also a sponsor of the studies currently being done on legalization.

“This is a thorough study, so there’s no need to delay. The draft study was 175 pages,” Herring said. 

Herring says that legalization of marijuana will be beneficial for the state.

“It’s a revenue producer, and there are some benefits to its medicinal use,” Herring said. 

Del. Charniele Herring. Photo via Facebook.

Virginia already allows medical marijuana use, but the proposed legislation would legalize it entirely. 

Legalization of marijuana could also be beneficial for communities of color, specifically Black communities, who face harsher penalties for using the drug than white communities. Black Virginians are arrested and convicted for marijuana use at more than three times the rate of white Virginians, according to a report by JLARC. 

“There’s been a disproportionate impact on communities of color when it comes to enforcing marijuana laws,” Herring said. “People of color don’t use it more than white people do, but our prosecutions are disproportionate, and we will certainly combat the issue.”

Herring says that there is little that can be done for those who are currently serving jail sentences for possession of marijuana, but that their sentences can be expunged, or the records sealed, when they get out. Marijuana sentences are generally under one year and are served in jails rather than prisons. Northam’s press release states that sealing or expunging records of past marijuana convictions is one of the initiatives that the legislation should include.

Governor Ralph Northam. RVA Mag file photo.

On November 16, Northam formally voiced his support for the legalization, saying he intended to introduce and support legislation to legalize marijuana for adult use in Virginia. 

“Our Commonwealth has the opportunity to be the first state in the South to take this step, and we will lead with a focus on equity, public health, and public safety,” Northam said in the press release. 

Since 2012, 15 states and the District of Columbia have legalized all marijuana use, while 36 states — including Virginia — have legalized medical use. 

Top Photo by Next Green Wave on Unsplash

Passing The Joint On Brown’s Island

Zoe Hall | July 14, 2020

Topics: burn one rva, Marijuana, marijuana decriminalization, richmond, richmond marijuana, Virginia marijuana laws, virginia pot laws

At the same time Stonewall Jackson was being removed from its pedestal, a planned Burn One RVA event sparked up on Brown’s Island to celebrate the decriminalization of marijuana. Here’s how it went, and what the new laws mean for Virginians. 

At 4:20pm, ironically just as Burn One RVA’s unofficial cannabis decriminalization celebration was set to begin, it started to pour.

At the same moment that groups were coming together for the impromptu removal of the Stonewall Jackson Monument in The Fan, Burn One RVA was sparking up simultaneously at Brown’s Island. Small groups of bathing suit-clad young people staggered up the hill, wrapping soaked sweatshirts around their shoulders and shielding their faces from the rain. All that remained was a single, determined turtle, bravely scaling the distance from the island’s north to south side.

A handful of people decided to stay, sheltered beneath a small shed, content to pass a joint and watch as the James River swallowed up the runoff from the city above. Just three miles away, Stonewall Jackson was being lifted off its platform, but here, all you could hear was rain and happy stoner music from a portable speaker. 

PHOTO: Brown’s Island via Visit Richmond VA

One person in the crew was a woman from Oregon Hill, a long-time marijuana smoker and Richmond resident. “It’s time… So many people across so many social backgrounds would benefit from legalization,” she said. “Even the CBD problem. I can give that to my dogs without fear that they’ll have any problems. I’m going to rely on that this weekend, because they hate fireworks.” 

Burn One RVA’s press release states, as a sort of mission statement, “Folks have been fighting for decriminalization/legalization in the Commonwealth for years. Now, we finally have a victory, and there is nothing planned to celebrate. COVID-19 and the protests probably have something to do with the fact that nobody is talking about this or planning anything. So we’re starting the conversation. We didn’t get any permits, but we aren’t actually planning anything. This ‘event’ is just an idea with a suggested place and time. We just hope some like-minded people come down to help us celebrate this momentous moment of freedom.”

Don’t bother looking them up, you won’t find anything. 

“We aren’t associated with any organizations. We aren’t involved with politics, the government, or any legalization organizations,” they continue. “We’re 100 percent independent. Maybe we’re just some folks who like to roll one up, kick back, and take it easy. Maybe we just want a reason to smile in a year that has turned out to be a complete and total turd sandwich… so far. Seriously, 2020 has been the worst. Let’s turn some frowns upside down. It’s that simple.”

Virginia lawmakers have been debating the decriminalization of cannabis since 2017. There’s still more to be done, but what we have is worth the celebration Burn One RVA had planned. According to the bill, SB 2 / HB 972, that Gov. Northam signed in May, it is no longer a criminal offense (just a civil one) to carry up to an ounce of cannabis. Unless it’s for medical purposes, possession will result in a $25 ticket, the lowest fine of any decriminalization law in the country.

Virginia has been working on a plethora of marijuana-based laws since 2017. You can find them listed on the Virginia NORML website. The organization collects stories of people who have been arrested for possessing marijuana. To find more info on local residents’ arrest experiences, check out the Cruel Consequences project. 

Selling and growing the plant remains illegal, and those caught could be sentenced to anywhere from one to 40 years in prison, depending on the situation. But even casual consumers might want to proceed with caution, especially for immigrants and those concerned with employer background checks. 

VA Senator Scott Surovell told WTOP News that an arrest will “still show up on an employment background check, because the records are going to be public at the courthouse, and you can be deported for this if you’re not legally present.”

For those whose professional futures could suffer from minor charges like this, full legalization is key. The most vulnerable populations in the country are people of color. In Richmond, 81 percent of residents charged with marijuana possession are Black, despite Black Richmonders making up only 49 percent of the city’s population. This doesn’t reflect the fact that Black and white people use marijuana at about the same rate. 

Even as states are beginning to legalize marijuana, arrest rates are climbing across the country, more so than arrests involving any other drug — marijuana possession makes up 41 percent of all drug arrests. Marijuana-related incarceration accounts for 8.6 percent of all drug arrests in the country, and the vast majority of long-term sentences are for trafficking, not possession. Perhaps this is a remnant of Reagan-era politics, in line with the belief that increasing arrests is a sign of productivity, regardless of the offense. 

Fortunately, with decriminalization in place, “We may see up to 15,000 fewer arrests per year for marijuana possession in Virginia,” said Jenn Michelle Pedini, Executive Director of VA NORML, in an interview with WTOP. That number is out of the 26,470 total people arrested for marijuana possession last year. 

PHOTO: Brown’s Island via Visit Richmond VA

But why, one might ask, is it worth arresting people for marijuana possession in the first place? It seems to be widely understood that marijuana is one of the more harmless drugs, and often speculated that alcohol, a legal substance, is comparably the same (or even worse). If that’s the case, our country’s documents have some catching up to do.

Believe it or not, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I substance in the Controlled Substance Act, a statute written in by Nixon’s colleagues to categorize and identify harmful drugs. Schedule I is the most dangerous level, with “high potential for abuse.” 

As it was being drafted, Raymond P. Shafer, chairman of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug abuse, urged the committee to reconsider the drug’s status. He showed them his very 70s-looking report, Marihuana: A Signal Of Misunderstanding (yes, he did spell it that way), which said that marijuana users are more timid and drowsy than dangerous. Alas, no changes were made. 

Until reports like Shafer’s are studied more closely by the government, it’s up to the individual states — or individual citizens — to make changes of their own. Throwing a city-wide weed party is certainly one way to feel unified on the issue.

Right now, Virginia lawmakers are studying the possible legalization of recreational sales and will revisit everything else, including full legalization, in 2021. It’s hard to picture Richmond without the scent of weed wafting through stairwells. 

Virginia Prosecuted Over 46,000 Marijuana Cases in 2018

VCU CNS | December 30, 2019

Topics: cannabis, General Assembly, General District Courts, lee carter, Marijuana, marijuana decriminalization, Marijuana laws in Virginia, marijuana legalization, marijuana reform in Virginia, Mark Herring, RVA, Virginia marijuana laws

In 2018, almost 20,000 people, most of them African American, were found guilty of marijuana possession in Virginia courts. The racial disparities where the state’s marijuana convictions are concerned has led some state officials to consider decriminalizing and perhaps legalizing marijuana.

Now that Democrats have won control of the General Assembly, decriminalization of marijuana could pass in the legislative session that begins in January. This would mean reducing the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana from a criminal offense to a civil violation, like a traffic ticket.

Such a change in the law would have a sweeping effect throughout Virginia: Last year, more than 46,000 marijuana possession cases were prosecuted in the state — and almost 20,000 people, most of them African Americans, were found guilty, leaving them with a criminal record. Although the crime is only a misdemeanor, a conviction still can hurt job prospects and other opportunities.

“If I get this on my record, I have to tell people what happened,” said CJ, a Richmond resident who asked to remain anonymous because he once had been caught smoking marijuana. “Most places aren’t too fond of that, and I might miss out on some opportunities because of a little bit of weed.”

CJ had a run-in with the law over a small amount of marijuana while he was in high school. He had been smoking a joint on the roof of a building in Alexandria with two friends and his cousin. After they climbed down, two police officers confronted the group.

“My biggest fear was going to jail and having to explain what happened to my mom,” CJ said.

After some back and forth, the officers let the young men off with a warning: If they were caught again on the streets, they would be charged.

“For what?” asked CJ.

“Doesn’t matter,” one of the officers replied before demanding that CJ and his companions get out of his sight.

They got off lucky, but that hasn’t been the case for most people caught with marijuana in Virginia.

20,000 convictions for marijuana possession last year

Capital News Service examined a database of more than 2 million cases processed in General District Courts across Virginia in 2018. Marijuana possession cases numbered more than 46,000. The only offenses more common than marijuana possession were traffic-related, such as speeding, reckless driving, and driving without a license.

Of the marijuana cases, more than 31,000 had been filed in 2018; the others had been filed in previous years.

About 35,000 of the cases before the General District Courts last year ended with a final disposition. In approximately 20,000 cases, the defendant was found guilty; in about 14,900 cases, the defendant was found not guilty or prosecutors dropped the charges.

Besides underscoring the prevalence of marijuana prosecutions, the data also sheds light on another factor often cited by critics of marijuana laws: the disproportionate impact on African Americans.

African Americans make up 19 percent of Virginia’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But they represented 49 percent of all marijuana possession prosecutions — and 51 percent of all defendants found guilty. More than 1,400 of every 100,000 black Virginians faced marijuana charges in General District Court last year.

In contrast, non-Hispanics whites make up 61 percent of Virginia’s population. But they represented 48 percent of all marijuana possession prosecutions — and 45 percent of all defendants found guilty. About 425 of every 100,000 white Virginians faced marijuana charges in General District Court last year.

Surveys have shown that similar proportions of whites and blacks use marijuana. The racial disparity is one reason why Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring convened a “Cannabis Summit” on December 11 to discuss decriminalizing possession of marijuana and legalizing it for recreational use.

“The burden of this system is falling disproportionately on African Americans and people of color,” Herring said. “There is a better and smarter approach to cannabis, and I think the time has come that we can embrace that.”

In recent months, Herring has stepped up his arguments calling for the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana, action to address past convictions for simple possession, and legalization and regulation of adult use of marijuana in Virginia.

The attorney general noted that in 2018, marijuana arrests in Virginia totaled almost 29,000 — their highest level in at least 20 years. That was triple the number of marijuana arrests in 1999. More than half of those arrested last year were under age 24.

Virginia spends more than $81 million annually enforcing marijuana laws, Herring said.

“Virginia’s policy of criminalizing minor marijuana possession is not working,” Herring said in an op-ed.

“It is needlessly creating criminals and burdening Virginians with convictions. The human and social costs are enormous, in addition to the millions of dollars it costs Virginia taxpayers. And the negative consequences of the current approach fall disproportionately on African Americans and people of color.”

Under current Virginia law, any person knowingly or intentionally possessing marijuana — unless the substance was obtained with a doctor’s recommendation — is guilty of a misdemeanor and can be fined up to $500 and confined in jail for up to 30 days.

In addition to the fines and jail time, people found guilty of possession of marijuana may face challenges such as finding employment, being approved for rental applications, and being accepted to college, even years after a conviction.

Democrats and many Republicans believe the law should be reformed. In preparation for the 2020 legislative session, two lawmakers, both Democrats, have filed bills regarding the issue:

  • Sen. Adam Ebbin of Alexandria is sponsoring legislation to decriminalize simple marijuana possession and provide a process for expunging convictions. Under his bill, people caught with less than an ounce of marijuana would face a civil penalty of no more than $50.
  • Del. Lee Carter of Prince William County has proposed legalizing marijuana, allowing people 21 and older in Virginia to buy the substance in state-regulated stores. His bill would decriminalize marijuana possession for those under 21.

Gov. Ralph Northam, a fellow Democrat, supports marijuana decriminalization and access to medical marijuana, but he hasn’t called for legalization.

Even some law enforcement officers believe the marijuana laws should be reformed. Capt. Emmett Williams of the Richmond Police Department called the current penalties “a little harsh.”

“I think the legislature is trying to make it so they can get those charges dropped easier. Virginia itself is harsher than most states when it comes to that. I don’t think something like a simple possession charge should affect someone for so long,” Williams said.

Del. Lee Carter. Photo via VCU-CNS

However, many people oppose legalizing marijuana because they fear it will encourage more Virginians, especially young adults, to use the drug.

In addition, “it’s a substance that is associated with a lot of violence,” Williams said. Gangs are often involved in the trafficking of marijuana and other drugs, selling the substances on the street and fighting over territory and money.

Williams also said officials should not get their hopes up that marijuana legalization would boost Virginia’s economy and provide a tax windfall for the state.

“Even if marijuana became legalized in Virginia, the distributors wouldn’t be able to get tax breaks for owning a business because they can’t use banking institutions since it’s still illegal on a federal level,” Williams said.

Written by Eric Everington and Adam Hamza, Capital News Service. Graphics by Adam Hamza of VCU Capital News Service, based on analysis of General District Court data. Top Photo by Dylan Fout on Unsplash.

Why Is It Still So Hard To Legalize Marijuana?

John Donegan | July 19, 2019

Topics: Marijuana, marijuana decriminalization, Marijuana laws in Virginia, marijuana legalization, marijuana reform in Virginia, Mark Herring, Ralph Northam, Virginia marijuana laws, Virginia NORML

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has asked that question in public lately, and it’s one that all of our lawmakers should be considering.

Weed isn’t a big deal. The military is treating PTSD with ecstacy. The legal right to grow weed has existed in our nation’s capital for years. The city of Denver has medical mushrooms, while the state of Colorado has earned over $1 billion from pot sales.

The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill in December clears CBD to hit its projection as a $22 billion industry by 2022, despite the FDA dragging their feet. Cannabis may remain illegal at the federal level, but the majority of the country currently utilizes weed for medicinal purposes. Even as the war on drugs is waged by our executive leadership, a multi-billion dollar pot market continues to steamroll across the country, with Illinois becoming the 11th state to legalize recreational use. 

America’s political machine has moved on; presidential debates revolve around fresh topics, like immigration, gun control, and climate change. In the most recent Democratic debate, cannabis wasn’t even discussed, as legalization was approved all-but-unanimously by 21 of 22 candidates — the exception being our Uncle-in-Chief, Joe Biden. 

Today, you can not only smoke weed: you can drink it, drop it in your eye, have sex with it, prepare entire meals with it, open restaurants based on it, tax it for college funds, and make an honest career of growing it. And far more people use it than you might expect — even Jesus dabbled in some cannabis oil. 

Campaigns for legalization have been backed by a myriad of findings that, under safe administration, show the medicinal benefits outweigh the risks of cannabis use. Gateway-drug theories and communist sympathies once tied to the drug have been debunked. Cannabis legalization has also been shown to reverse rates of opioid abuse and deaths.

Save societies’ religious zealots and frothing teabaggers, people don’t really have any issues with weed. So why isn’t it legal here in Virginia yet?

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring was the latest to ask that very question, in an Op-Ed published by the Daily Press. 

“Criminalizing minor marijuana possession is just not working. It is needlessly creating criminals. It is costing us a lot of money — the social cost is enormous, and there are disparities in enforcement you reported,” Herring wrote. “Virginia should decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, address past convictions, and start moving toward legal and regulated adult use.”

While Herring’s opinion revitalized the topic of cannabis reform, he isn’t the first state official to speak up in recent months. Gov. Ralph Northam suggested decriminalization of simple possession during his State of the Commonwealth speech in January.

“We want to keep people safe,” Northam said. “But we shouldn’t use valuable law enforcement time, or costly prison space, on laws that don’t enhance public safety.” 

“Current law imposes a maximum 30 days in jail for a first offense of marijuana possession. Making simple possession a civil penalty will ease overcrowding in our jails and prisons, and free up our law enforcement and court resources for offenses that are a true threat to public safety.”

And before Northam’s speech, many Virginia judges publicly refused to jail first offenders for misdemeanor cases of marijuana possession. In a letter sent on January 3, Greg Underwood, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Norfolk, informed judges, law enforcement, and public safety officials that he won’t prosecute misdemeanor marijuana charges. He also stated that his office would support the release of defendants on bail in more misdemeanor and felony cases. Portsmouth’s Commonwealth Attorney Stephanie Morales rolled out a similar policy.

“The Office will cease prosecuting all misdemeanor marijuana possession cases and will move to nolle prosequi or dismiss such cases that fall within our purview,” read the memorandum published by Underwood.

Underwood cited an annual report that showed about 80 percent of first-offense marijuana possession arrests in Norfolk were African Americans in 2016 and 2017, despite the city’s population being 43 percent African American.

Federally, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug. The DEA still pairs it with LSD and heroin in its potential for abuse, with no federally recognized medical benefits, despite national polls showing significant public support for its legalization. Even CBD is hampered by the FDA, an organization infamous for approving controversial drugs like Zoloft and Dsuvia with little to no clinical testing.

And it isn’t much better here in Virginia. In 2015, the state general assembly passed a special case usage of non-psychoactive marijuana oils to treat intractable epilepsy — making us the 46th state to pass any form of cannabis legislation. The Commonwealth also allows prescribed marijuana and THC, but only for alleviating effects of chemo treatment in cases of cancer and glaucoma. 

Aside from that, all other cannabis legislation — six bills thus far, under the recommendation of law enforcement, Governor Northam and researchers alike — have died in committee.

“It’s not the governor, it’s not the bill sponsor themselves,” Virginia NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) Executive Director Jenn Michelle Pedini told RVA Magazine. “It really comes down to the Senate Courts of Justice Committee and the House Courts of Justice Committee. That’s where marijuana reform goes to die.”

Just this past January, the Virginia House’s Courts of Justice defeated HB 2317 in a 5-3 vote, a bill that proposed legalizing cannabis for those over 21, decriminalizing simple possession of cannabis and reducing maximum jail time for those underage. The Virginia state Senate’s Courts of Justice also defeated SB 997, a similar measure proposed by Sen. Adam Ebbin. A first offense for simple possession of marijuana (under 14 grams) remains a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500 and jail time of up to 30 days. 

“I will continue to fight for Virginians of all walks of life, from all political backgrounds, who believe as I do, that marijuana prohibition has been a failure,” said Sen. Stephen Heretick (D-Portsmouth), who proposed the bill. “From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your support and for standing with me.”

Many argue that jail time served on marijuana charges is a financial waste disproportionately affecting African Americans. According to a report by the Virginia Crime Commission, African Americans constitute a majority of small possession cases, despite the fact that only 20 percent of Virginia residents are black.  

The report also stated that a first-time marijuana offender with court-appointed counsel can “expect to pay approximately $400 to $800 in costs and fees depending on the type of probation ordered.”

“Studies show that blacks and whites use marijuana at about the same rate,” said American Civil Liberties Union-Virginia executive director Claire Guthrie Gastañaga. A 2017 ACLU report concluded black Americans are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession.

“It is not surprising that the War on Marijuana, waged with far less fanfare than the earlier phases of the drug war, has gone largely, if not entirely, unnoticed by middle- and upper-class white communities,” stated the report.

A 2017 Virginia State Police report shared similar results, reporting that African Americans are more likely to be jailed for marijuana possession, despite using the drug at the same rate. Black defendants are also more likely than white defendants to be found guilty, rather than have their charges dismissed, according to state court records. 

Crime analyst and former detective Richard James told WKTR that law enforcement can still cite you for possession of marijuana, and explained what could happen in that case. 

The evidence is clear that there are racial biases in the enforcement of marijuana,” said James.

Democrats argue it is a Republican-controlled assembly that has stalled marijuana reform. 

“If we elect a Democratic majority, I think you are looking at a clear, distinct possibility marijuana will be part of a new Virginia economy, along with clean energy,” said Kathy Galvin, a 2019 Virginia delegate candidate, according to news reports.

Yet, sympathy for cannabis has even come from Republican legislators, like the case of former Speaker Of The US House of Representatives John Boehner, who sees the plant, under the appropriate supervision, as a cash crop and a personal liberty. 

“It can be used to excess, and likely will,” Boehner told NPR. “But that doesn’t mean that we should take wine or liquor off the market, or beer or cigarettes for that matter. And I do think that by decriminalizing, you’re going to open up a lot more research so we can learn more about the 4,000 year history of the use of this plant.”

In 2018, the Virginia Senate authorized the first five medical cannabis dispensaries for non-psychoactive CBD and THC-A oils, most of which will be open by the fall 2019. In the next session, Del. Glenn Davis, R-Virginia Beach, filed HB 2245, a bill to double the number of medical cannabis dispensaries. 

An estimated 1.1 million jobs could be created by 2025 if marijuana were legalized, according to an analysis by New Frontier Data. Dalitso, a Manassas-based investor group that owns one of the first five dispensaries licensed in Virginia, began with an initial staff of 50 and has significantly grown, based solely on projected sales within the state.

Photo by Marijuana Pictures

“The cannabis industry is growing, and Virginia is growing along with it,” said Greg Kennedy, a partner with Dalitso, according to news reports.

In contrast, some Virginia Republicans have merely paraded legislation under the banner of reform. In 2018, state Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment proposed his own marijuana legislation, SB 954, at first touting it as cannabis legislation, only to later restate that the bill would only offer a chance for expungement of records and negation of possible jail time to first offenders.

“Legislative change is about the possible,” said Jeff Ryer, a spokesman for Norment. Ryer told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Norment removed measures to decriminalize because with those measures in place, the bill would have no chance of passage.

The problem is, Virginia does not allow expungement. Norment’s bill would have simply created a separate registry apart from the national criminal database, though offenses would still show up in background checks. Tickets and fees issued through the program would be funneled into a separate fund for the state police, who would have been required to run the registry.

“Senator Norment’s bill is an expungement measure not sharing a freckle in common with decriminalization,” Bill Farrar, ACLU of Virginia public policy and communication director, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “This is an urgent criminal justice and racial justice issue in Virginia that lawmakers should be taking more seriously.”

The bill passed the Senate by a near unanimous 38-2 vote, but others involving marijuana died in the House Courts of Justice Committee. And though Norment said he favored decriminalization, he later voted against Senator Adam Ebbin’s 2019 decriminalization bill, SB997, in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee.

“Virginians want marijuana possession decriminalized, not to be charged three times as much as a regular expungement in order to be tracked on a ‘marijuana offender’ list,” Pedini said.

“The primary impediment to meaningful marijuana law reform in Virginia is the leadership of legislative committees,” Pedini said. “While the overwhelming majority of Virginia lawmakers may favor decriminalizing marijuana, or even legalizing responsible adult use, unless those bills can advance through committee to the floor for a vote, they simply cannot succeed. ”

The main contention over marijuana legislation today is where the road ends; Herring and many Democrats want eventual legalization, while many Republican legislators don’t want anything beyond decriminalization. Though some GOP legislators have humored small measures toward weed reform, short sporadic bursts will never be enough to break up the party’s closed front; concrete changes in Virginia will require the unanimous assent of Republican leadership. Until then, any efforts to pass cannabis legislation will be crippled by the very saboteurs that have gone to battle where other issues are concerned over GOP-endorsed virtues of personal liberty, limited government, and free markets that, where marijuana is concerned, they stand firmly against.  

If Virginians want fairer and safer marijuana laws, they must elect those candidates who will support such measures,” Pedini said.

And despite a public that supports reform at historic highs, politicians are prepared to vote along party lines rather than the wishes of their own constituency. It’s true that the war on drugs was a failure; so why are so many Virginia lawmakers still fighting?

‘Legalize Virginia’ to Elevate the Discussion Around Marijuana Reform

Jesse Scaccia | September 10, 2018

Topics: ACLU, Board of Pharmacy, CBD, Marijuana, marijuana dispensaries, medical marijuana, Medicinal, Norfolk, O'Connor Brewing Company, Virginia marijuana laws, Virginia NORML

Update: Legalize Virginia has been rescheduled to next week, starting Sept. 18.

Last week the Board of Pharmacy Ad Hoc Committee met to determine which companies will be the first to be able to open medical cannabis dispensaries in Virginia.

Yes, they met behind closed doors. And no, the current law is not enough. But that doesn’t change the fact that what is happening right now is a huge, huge step for marijuana in Virginia.

Within the next year, you will be able to bring a form signed by your doctor to a regulated business in the Commonwealth, and there, they will give you an oil derived from a marijuana plant grown on site. It’s just the beginning for those very lucky five business license holders, who you can expect to fiercely try to attract as many patient customers through their doors as possible.

When you picture the folks waiting in line at those dispensaries, I urge you to think of the hundreds of thousands of people in Virginia with genuine illnesses and conditions, who genuinely will find solace and healing from medical marijuana.

Think of my friend Creed Leffler, who has Cerebral Palsy. He calls marijuana the “miracle plant” for the way it helps his muscles relax. “There is no such thing as recreational marijuana,” Leffler said. “It’s all medicinal.”

Creed Leffler

The list of the ailments that can be treated with marijuana is longer than your arm. Check out this chart. Chronic pain, epilepsy, PTSD, ALS, cancer, diabetes — the list goes on and on. The stories are heartbreaking.

Melanie Seifert Davis’s daughter Maddie has been fighting metastatic brain cancer since she was five. “Because of the use of multiple cannabis products, Madison lives a life free of pain, seizures or any limiting deficits, and full of the joys of childhood all children deserve,” said Davis, an ER nurse. “My degree in Biology and my years in the trenches of modern medicine have enabled me to make treatment decisions for my family that rely on evidence-based best practices and emerging research findings, including the multitude of medical benefits that can be derived from marijuana.”

Melanie Seifert Davis’ with her daughter Maddie

I expect marijuana law reform in Virginia to move relatively quickly from here. Expect the businesses granted licenses to be a part of the army of voices banging the drum for even more cannabis law reform in the Commonwealth. The organization I am a part of, Virginia NORML, will be pushing for a decriminalization bill this upcoming General Assembly.

There is hope. There is a plan. And there’s also going to be a party.

Virginia NORML is working with Norfolk’s O’Connor Brewing Company to push the conversation forward with Legalize Virginia Festival, a week-long series of workshops, panels, events, and activities all diving into a different aspect of reform.

Last Monday, the group held “Marijuana Saved My Life: Cannabis as Medicine in Virginia,” a forum on the new medical cannabis law, who it will help, and how to talk to your doctor about it, with Virginia NORML Executive Director Jenn Michelle Pedini leading the panel. Lisa Bohn, a Purple Heart veteran who uses cannabis to help her cope with PTSD, along with Davis and Leffler, will also speak on the panel. On Tuesday, Sept. 18, the festival will hold the “Equity and Expungement: Talking Marijuana and Race in Virginia” panel, which will look at the disparity in arrest rates among white Virginians and Virginians of color, the expungement of records of those with marijuana offenses, and more. Norfolk NAACP President Joe Dillard, Bill Farrar, director of public policy and communications for ACLU of Virginia, and expungement and restoration of rights attorney Wanda Cooper will serve on the panel. Thursday’s discussion will dive into what cities in Virginia can do about cannabis law reform.

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All forums run from 7 to 8 pm at O’Connor Brewing Company and followed by more informal workshops. Tonight, there will be a workshop on growing hops and hemp, on Tuesday will be a workshop on entering the cannabis industry, and on Thursday there will be a workshop on how to be a kick-ass marijuana activist.

Friday, Sept. 21 is the festival atmosphere. O’Connor is releasing a special beer they’re brewing with hemp seeds, called “YES, NORFOLK CAN(yon),” a pale ale modeled after their Norfolk Canyon brew. There will be a ton of pop-ups as part of NOMARAMA’s Munchie Market, a killer list of independent vendors, DJs, a pop-up yoga class, and a retro arcade. The festival runs from 3 pm to midnight.

The fact that O’Connor Brewing Co., a major name in Virginia craft beer, is hosting this series of events is, in-and-of-itself, a testament to the new day for marijuana in Virginia.

This issue is out of the shadows. Soon, we’ll be walking into legal dispensaries in the light of day. And what a beautiful day that will be.

You can check out the entire schedule for Legalize Virginia here.

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