A Virginia House Subcommittee voted 7-1 against marijuana decriminalization legislation, ending a long shot campaign to remove criminal penalties for personal-use drug offenses this year.
For months, we have covered the effort to decriminalize marijuana in the state of Virginia. Earlier this year, the Virginia State Crime Commission solicited comments from the public on a proposal to decriminalize the drug. Of the on-topic comments they received, a whopping 97.2 percent of respondents favored eliminating criminal penalties for possession of a small amount of marijuana for personal use. Many states across the country have gone even further by choosing to legalize marijuana for medicinal or even recreational use. This proposed legislation, however, would have stopped short of that and pursued simple decriminalization. The legislation was sponsored by House Delegate Steve Heretick (D-Portsmouth). Current state law punishes first-time drug offenders with a fine of up to $500 and up to 30 days in jail. Heretick's bill would have instead prescribed a $250 civil fine for a first-time drug offense.
“We’ve seen evolved societal norm," Heretick explained on the day of the subcommittee vote. "More are accepting of marijuana. This is a bill whose time has come.”
Apparently, the rest of his colleagues on the House Courts of Justice Subcommittee disagreed. The final vote was 7-1 against adopting the legislation. This means that marijuana will not be decriminalized in Virginia in 2018.
The hearing was not a complete loss for marijuana advocates, however. The same subcommittee voted unanimously to approve HB 1251, a bill to legalize CBD and THC-A oils for medicinal use. This legislation now moves to the House floor for a full vote.
This victory follows the same pattern seen in a lot of states. Before decriminalizing or legalizing recreational marijuana, states usually choose to start by passing medical marijuana legislation. While the window for decriminalizing cannabis in 2018 has closed, advocates are promising to keep fighting and are hopeful that decriminalization could become a reality in 2019.
What do you think? Should marijuana be decriminalized in Virginia? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!
