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Virginia lawmakers voted to decriminalize marijuana in a bipartisan initiative setting a $25 fine for simple possession. Under the current legislation, possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana is punishable by a month in jail for a first offense and one year for subsequent offenses.
Initially, both Virginia’s House of Delegates and Senate had voted on two different versions of the bill. It took several weeks to reconcile the versions, but the bill was ultimately agreed upon in the nick of time; it was approved by both chambers while the Virginia General Assembly was working overtime on Sunday, March 8—one day after the expected end of the legislative session.
Additionally, the decriminalization bill establishes that charges for marijuana possession won’t be included in a person’s criminal history, as well as barring employers and other institutions from requiring disclosure of past marijuana possession offenses. It also includes hashish oil under the new definition of marijuana; possession of hashish oil is currently a felony punishable by one to 10 years of incarceration.
Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam promised to sign decriminalization into law and seems willing to push for full legalization, as he used his State of the Commonwealth address to call for drug reform. “The punishment must fit the crime. Not every offense deserves a life sentence. It’s time to temper justice with mercy,” Northam said. “Remember, this is a bipartisan issue. Lots of Republican-led states have reformed their criminal justice systems. It’s time for Virginia to do it, too. This means decriminalizing marijuana possession—and clearing the records of people who’ve gotten into trouble for it.”
With this bill, Virginia’s marijuana laws, which were notoriously strict, will become far more compassionate. Democratic House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, who led the decriminalization effort, said, “This bill... will prevent low-level offenders from receiving jail time for simple possession while we move toward legalization in the coming years with a framework that addresses both public safety and equity in an emerging market.”
“With this historic vote, we are making Virginia a more fair, just, equal and progressive place,” said Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring. “Decriminalization is an important first step on Virginia’s path towards legal, regulated adult use, and one many thought was still years away, but we cannot stop now. We’ve shown that smart, progressive reform is possible, and we must keep going.”
Reforms Keep Coming
Decriminalization is the biggest, but not the only, drug reform bill to pass in the past several days in Virginia. The 2020 legislative session saw a flurry of marijuana bills approved by the state’s Legislature, challenging the entire legal framework surrounding marijuana in the state.
While medical marijuana is illegal in Virginia, a 2015 law makes it possible in practice to possess oil containing cannabidiol (CBD) or tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THC-A), two non-psychoactive components of cannabis. A new bill approved by the Legislature aims to formally legalize these two oils to ensure that nobody will be prosecuted or denied any right to them if they have a valid prescription. This is coupled with another bill authorizing the Virginia Board of Pharmacy to issue permits for cannabis-dispensing facilities. Both these initiatives reinforce a burgeoning medical cannabis market in the state. And yet another approved bill clarifies that smokable cannabis products containing less than 0.3% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of cannabis, are legal to sell, possess and use.
All of this comes as one last resolution, which could give hope to proponents of full legalization, passed the Legislature with a large majority. It requires “the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study and make recommendations for how Virginia should go about legalizing and regulating the growth, sale and possession of marijuana by July 1, 2022, and address the impacts of marijuana prohibition.”
