Pot could be legal in Va. by this summer

Shift on possession was first set for ’24

Virginia is poised to legalize marijuana possession as soon as this summer.

The state had already decriminalized the substance last year. And in a historic shift for this traditionally conservative Southern state, the General Assembly voted last month to allow its possession, manufacture and sale. Lawmakers had negotiated to legalize simple possession in 2024 — the same year pot dispensaries will be allowed to open — in a bill they sent to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam for a signature.

Now, under mounting pressure from civil rights advocates, Northam is proposing an amendment to the legislation that would legalize possession of up to an ounce beginning July 1 of this year. Lawmakers would have to approve the change for it to become law.

“Our Commonwealth is committed to legalizing marijuana in an equitable way,” Northam said in a statement he planned to issue Wednesday. “Virginia will become the 15th state to legalize marijuana — and these changes will ensure we do it with a focus on public safety, public health, and social justice.”

Wednesday is the deadline for Northam to propose amendments and veto bills passed by lawmakers during this year’s legislative session, which ended in February. Legislators will meet April 7 to consider those amendments and whether to override any bill the governor vetoes.

“Legalizing marijuana for racial justice demands taking away a policing tool disparately wielded against Black and Brown people,” the ACLU of Virginia tweeted on Monday. “@GovernorVA, we look to you to do the right thing and legalize simple possession NOW.”

Democrats in control of the House and Senate, meanwhile, have said they would support moving the date up.

“Following the example of several other states, the Governor’s amendments allow us to set up a safe, regulated, and equitable market while immediately protecting communities of color,” Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said in Northam’s prepared statement.

In a statement she tweeted Friday afternoon, House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, said she’s in favor of the change, in addition to more amendments that would loosen restrictions on the substance and help prisoners with marijuana convictions go free sooner.

Sen. Adam Ebbin, a Democrat from Alexandria and the bill’s Senate sponsor, replied to the speaker in agreement.

“Excited to see House membership in support of the Senate position for July 1 legalization date,” he wrote.

Since last year’s decriminalization, the punishment for being caught with up to an ounce of marijuana has been a $25 civil fine, akin to a parking ticket.

Before that, it could have resulted in a criminal conviction, a $500 fine and 30 days in jail for a first offense — and up to a year in jail for a second or subsequent offense.

A November report commissioned by the state found that Black Virginians were more than three times as likely to be arrested for simple possession of marijuana. Data from Virginia courts show that trend has continued since possession was decriminalized.

Northam said this fact drove his proposal to move legalization up by three years.

From 2010 to 2018, there were almost 200,000 marijuana possession arrests in Virginia, and nearly 39,000 of those were in Hampton Roads, according to Old Dominion University’s 2019 State of the Region report.

“We are doing everything possible to repair and redress the harm done to communities of color most impacted by marijuana criminalization,” Del. Lamont Bagby, chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, said in the governor’s prepared statement. Bagby, a Democrat, represents Henrico County. “The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus stands in support of the Governor’s amendments because justice must not be delayed.”

About 68% of Virginia’s registered voters support legalizing marijuana, according to poll results released last month by the Wason Center for Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University.

Under the legislation Northam is considering, cannabis can be sold in regulated stores starting in 2024, with tax revenue going to pre-K and public health programs, addiction treatment and a fund to remedy the effects of the drug’s criminalization.