Supporters of SB 686, the marijuana decriminalization bill of Sen. Adam P. Ebbin,D-Alexandria, foreground, lined up to speak as Ebbin presented his bill to the Senate Courts of Justice committee at the General Assembly Building in Richmond, VA Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015. The bill failed to pass.
Virginia’s state government will study whether it should decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, a decision reached Wednesday that was praised by those who want to reform the law.
The executive committee of the Virginia State Crime Commission agreed that the commission should undertake a study this year.
“This is a landmark first step toward marijuana-related criminal justice reform in Virginia,” which currently “lags far behind the national trend on marijuana policy,” Daniel Rouleau, communications director for Virginia NORML, said in a news release. “The commission’s decision today is an omen of significant marijuana policy changes” that are developing in Virginia, he said.
The decision followed growing calls to change the punishment for possession of small amounts of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil fine.
Current law results in “jail time, costly fines, driver’s license suspension and a variety of long-lasting collateral consequences including loss of public housing assistance, federal school loans and even parental rights,” the Virginia NORML news release said. The organization wants to loosen Virginia’s marijuana prohibition laws.
Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, requested the study last year after officials and activists in Norfolk began lobbying on the issue. Virginia NORML called Norment’s request “a bold move of leadership.”
Sens. Adam P. Ebbin, D-Alexandria, and L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, are among lawmakers in recent years who have introduced decriminalization bills. The issue hasn’t made its way out of legislative committee, however. This year, legislation was put on hold because of the likely study.
Both Democratic candidates for governor in the June 13 primary — Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam and former Rep. Tom Perriello — have called for decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana and tweeted praise of the decision for a study Wednesday.
Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Rockingham, a member of the crime commission, said he was fine doing a study but still had some concerns about marijuana’s effect on teens and adolescents.
He acknowledged Virginia is behind other states in looking at the issue.
“We get to learn from the experience of other states — look at the things they did right and things they did wrong,” he said.
“The national trend is certainly leaning” to decriminalization, he said.
One step at a time. We'll chalk this one up for a win. https://t.co/3cwfLjeIuh
— Ralph Northam (@RalphNortham) April 5, 2017
Great news.
— Tom Perriello (@tomperriello) April 5, 2017
Decrim reform is long overdue and this is an important first step toward fixing a broken system that locks up too many people. https://t.co/W5TXO0zF2L
