marijuana leaves

Sen. Adam Ebbin, a Democrat from Alexandria, has introduced a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Under the proposal, the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana would be decriminalized. Currently, possession, even of minute amount of marijuana for personal use, is punishable by a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

The bill also would reduce the criminal penalties for distribution and possession with the intent to distribute. When caught growing marijuana, a person who grows no more than six plants would be considered raising them for “personal use” and not a drug dealer.

In 2013, there were more than 24,000 marijuana arrests in the state of Virginia.

“I had requests to do it for a number of years, and I decided this year to go ahead,” Ebbin said. “There’s about 25 million Americans who smoked marijuana in the past year, and our public policy should start to reflect reality and not deny it.”

By Hypatia Livingston

"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all."Writer, thinker, researcher, philosopher.

3 thoughts on “Virginia State Senator Pushes For Marijuana Decriminalization”
  1. It looks like Virginia is going up in a smoke. I wonder how many other states are going to jump on this wagon and ride it off into the smokey end? There are dozens of states that have this issue and I wonder who is going to follow along here. Do what you do in your own personal (and private) time and not end up in jail…seems reasonable.

  2. We need more politicians with common sense about marijuana. I applaud this senator for taking a sensible approach. This country spends billions in pursuing, prosecuting and jailing people for smoking an herb that doesn’t hurt anyone and actually helps many.

    1. If only it were that simple. I know a few people who understand it and are okay with it but still spout off at the mouth that the kids are going to get into it or they are just going to want it. Why not educate everyone and have people learn to lock their stashes up? I mean my guns are locked up, there is no way I would bring marijuana into the house without having it kept safely away from my kids. These people drive me nuts.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *