{"id":221728,"date":"2021-04-08T07:35:58","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T04:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/virginia-becomes-first-southern-state-to-legalize-marijuana\/"},"modified":"2021-04-08T07:35:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T04:35:58","slug":"virginia-becomes-first-southern-state-to-legalize-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/virginia-becomes-first-southern-state-to-legalize-marijuana\/","title":{"rendered":"#Virginia becomes first Southern state to legalize marijuana"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Virginia becomes first Southern state to legalize marijuana<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

Virginia became the first Southern state to legalize marijuana Wednesday, as lawmakers voted to app<\/a>rove Gov. Ralph Northam\u2019s proposed changes to a bill that will allow adults to possess and cultivate small amounts of the drug starting in July.<\/p>\n

Northam\u00a0sent the bill back<\/a>\u00a0to lawmakers substantially changed from the version that\u00a0squeaked out<\/a>\u00a0of the General<\/a> Assembly in February. The amendments lawmakers agreed to Wednesday would accelerate the timeline of legalization by about three years, well before retail sales would begin, a move that\u2019s been cheered by racial justice advocates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time has come for our state to legalize marijuana. The amendments ensure that while we\u2019re doing the complicated work of standing up a commercial market, we aren\u2019t delaying immedia<\/a>te reforms that will make our Commonwealth more equitable for all Virginians,\u201d House Majority Leader Charniele Herring said in urging her colleagues to approve the governor\u2019s changes.<\/p>\n

Democrats said the bill was a matter of urgency, a necessary step to end what state figures show is disparate treatment of people of color under current marijuana laws.<\/p>\n

Northam\u2019s amendments cleared the House 53-44 with two abstentions during a one-day session held for the purpose of putting the finishing touches on the year\u2019s legislation. In the Senate, lawmakers deadlocked 20-20 and Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax broke the tie, voting to approve the changes.<\/p>\n

\"Virginia
Virginia Lt. Gov., Justin Fairfax, left, speaks with new state Sen. Travis Hackworth (R-Tazewell) during the Senate reconvene session in Richmond.<\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final version of the legislation would allow adults 21 and up to legally possess up to one ounce (28.3 grams) of cannabis without the intent to distribute beginning July 1. It also would allow the home cultivation of up to four plants per household beginning July 1. Public use of the drug will be prohibited.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not going to generate some ganjafest at Jiffy Lube pavilion out in the parking lot, because that is smoking in public. Just like you can\u2019t drink in public, you can\u2019t smoke in public under this,\u201d Democratic Sen. Scott Surovell said.<\/p>\n

It will be years before legal retail sales follow legalized possession. The bill lays out the complex process of creating a new state agency to oversee the marijuana marketplace, with sales beginning and regulations taking effect on Jan. 1, 2024.<\/p>\n

Many parts of the bill dealing with the regulatory framework will have to be reapproved by lawmakers next year. The possession and cultivation pieces will not.<\/p>\n

Republicans, who overwhelmingly opposed the bill when it initially went through the General Assembly, railed against the latest version, citing several reasons.<\/p>\n

\"Virginia
Virginia State Sen. Bryce Reeves (R-Spotslyvania) addresses the Senate during debate on a bill legalizing marijuana during the reconvene session at the Science<\/a> Museum of Virginia in Richmond.<\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GOP Del. Chris Head called the bill \u201ca train wreck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hard-fought compromise that barely made it out of this chamber and over to the Senate has just been discarded. And why is that? It\u2019s because some activists want marijuana legalized and they want it legalized now, consequences be damned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some Republicans took issue with labor provisions in the new version of the bill, in particular a change that says the government can revoke or suspend licenses issued under the new law in cases where an employer has refused to \u201cremain neutral regarding any union organizing efforts by employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the legislative session, the Senate sought to legalize simple possession beginning in July, but House Democrats argued that legalization without a legal market for marijuana could promote the growth of the black market. The bill as passed in February would not have legalized simple possession until 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Virginia
Virginia State Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, center, along with Sen. John Cosgrove left, talk with Sen. Travis Hackworth during the Senate reconvene session.<\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Herring said Wednesday that home cultivation would give Virginians a way to legally acquire cannabis while the retail market is being put in place.<\/p>\n

Many of the other amendments lawmakers dealt with Wednesday were minor or technical in nature and dispensed with more easily. Both chambers quickly signed off on a tweak to a sweeping\u00a0voting rights measure\u00a0<\/a>that supporters say will protect and expand access to the ballot box. And they approved minor changes to a measure\u00a0intended to improve<\/a>\u00a0the beleaguered unemployment system.<\/p>\n

They also approved amendments that will allow both a gun ban on Capitol Square as well as\u00a0one of the most restrictive bans<\/a>\u00a0in the country on the use of facial recognition technology<\/a> to go into effect.<\/p>\n

Both chambers signed off on a budget amendment from Northam that will fund an outside investigation into a small component of a\u00a0larger controversy<\/a>\u00a0over the state parole board. Republicans blasted the governor\u2019s proposal as far less substantive than necessary and said it would allow the administration to keep quiet any unflattering findings.<\/p>\n

\"Virginia
Virginia State Sen. Janet Howell (D-Fairfax) smiles after her remarks on a bill legalizing marijuana during the Senate reconvene session in Richmond.<\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lawmakers also rejected a handful of the governor\u2019s proposed amendments. Those measures now go back to Northam, who can either sign the bills as they passed or veto them.<\/p>\n

The General Assembly had no veto overrides to consider this year.<\/p>\n

Northam said in a statement that this year\u2019s legislative session would be regarded as \u201cone of the most consequential policy-reforming periods in modern Virginia history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs this historic session comes to an end, I am heartened by all that we have done together to advance our priorities and make Virginia stronger, fairer, and more equitable,\u201d he said.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Virginia becomes first Southern state to legalize marijuana” Virginia became the first Southern state to legalize marijuana Wednesday, as lawmakers voted to approve Gov. Ralph Northam\u2019s proposed changes to a bill that will allow adults to possess and cultivate small amounts of the drug starting in July. Northam\u00a0sent the bill back\u00a0to lawmakers substantially changed from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":221729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/4FFFF32B-8C02-4E07-9F4C-66E6F7324B7D.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[101255,70301,72692,71263,72386,101256,72971],"class_list":["post-221728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-8-21","tag-bills","tag-legislation","tag-marijuana","tag-marijuana-legalization","tag-ralph-northam","tag-virginia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}