Posted on 01/20/2021 9:27:53 AM PST by NobleFree
A bill that would legalize recreational adult use of marijuana was presented and discussed in a Virginia General Assembly subcommittee Tuesday morning.
If the bill passes, recreational marijuana could be legal in the commonwealth in two years.
"The prohibition of cannabis in the commonwealth and in our country has failed, and with this bill is a step forward in recognizing that in a responsible way," said state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D), who sponsors the bill.
The bill would legalize possession and use for anyone 21 and older and allow people to grow up to two mature marijuana plants at home for personal use.
Marijuana edibles could be sold, too, which pulmonologist Dr. Jim Avery says attracts teens and could result in addiction.
“This is the exact same playbook that big tobacco did years ago: Hook 'em when they're young and you get a customer for life," he said.
There's also concern about enforcing laws against driving under the influence of marijuana.
"Arrests are made based solely on the observations of the officer and are very subjective,” Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said. “This makes DUI enforcement and keeping our roads safe all the more difficult."
Gov. Ralph Northam supports legalization and a 21% tax on marijuana products, which is on the lower end of what other states with legal marijuana use.
The tax revenue would support education and communities disproportionately impacted by prohibition, which Virginia's bipartisan policy audit and review commission found significantly affects Black and Hispanic Virginians more than whites.
“There are five principles embedded in the bill,” Ebbin said. “They include social, racial and economic equity; public health protections for young people; upholding our clean indoor air act; and data collection so that we can make sure that things are happening properly and adjust them if they're not.”
The full General Assembly could vote on legalizing marijuana as early as next month. Then it would head to the governor, who says marijuana is a cash crop that rivals tobacco.
Virginia is for gamblers and pot heads.
Same to you... I make a 25 mile commute every day. I cannot remember a day when I did not get behind at least one vehicle that filled my car with marijuana odors. It happens every day in some locations more than others. I am sorry that you cannot accept this reality of what it is like to live in a place that legalized marijuana years ago. Many people smoke it nearly every waking moment and especially it seems when they are driving their cars.
Marijuana now outsells tobacco and alcohol combined. It is a multi-billion dollar “industry” here. We still cannot go to a sit down restaurant and schools are closed, they even shut down construction, but marijuana workers were considered essential.
Note that they will “permit” you to grow 2 plants in your own house.
I have no idea if two plants is enough for a household, but the idea that you can go buy all the pot you want from a dealer, but will be restricted in how much you can grow for yourself, coupled with the 21% tax, shows that this is more about making money from addicted people, than actually providing freedom for people to live their own lives free of government.
Note that the pulminologist is offering expert opinion on a type of marijuana that is ingested, not smoked.
“this is more about making money”
When politicians do the right thing for the wrong reason, we need to take the win.
Mason County, WA has 66,700 people residing there. King and Pierce County have 3,158,000 people combined. The population density in Mason County is 66.3 persons per square mile. The population density in the part of Tacoma where our house is located in has over 7000 people per square mile. Can your pot addled mind conceive that our experiences might be a little different?
I live in Washington also, drive lots of miles and have never smelled or witnessed anything like you describe and there are multiple pot shops here in Mason County.
You think living in Podunk Mason County is the same as [...]
He correctly thinks living in Mason County is living in Washington State - which is what your original claim was about. All your belligerent language can't hide your foolish error nor your clumsy backpedal.
He lives in a sparsely populated area and is trying to tell us that it is the same as living in a densely populated area. The population in Mason County is 66 people per square mile. The part of Tacoma our house is in has a population density of 7000 people per square mile.
There is no backpedaling on my part. Your repeated nonsensical arguments are not impressing anyone with even a smidgen of common sense. They reveal only a pot addled brain that serves as a cautionary tale for the rest of us. As you get older the cumulative effects of long term marijuana use become more and more debilitating; in your case the results are undeniable. So now are you going to tell us again how you do not smoke pot... that you just advocate for its use because it is so wonderful for society.
The city recently opened a “Tiny House” community for homeless people. You can smell the pot odor drifting off the facility from blocks away. As I have told you on previous occasions the number of homeless people here directly corresponds with increasing pot use. I am sure that we are not alone. You continuously advocate for something that has direct and observable negative effects on society... are you proud of yourself?
No, liar, you made a claim about Washington State and he rebutted your claim. Your lies are pathetic and obvious.
In my original post I said, “In Washington State you can't drive down the street without your vehicle being filled with the skunk like odor of marijuana smoke from drivers ahead of you. In the evening when you sit outside on a warm summer evening, the skunk like odor of marijuana forces you back inside. Go for it Virginia!”
Where we live in Washington State this is absolutely true. In Washington State 12% of the population now smokes. In Tacoma and Seattle 20% of the population now smokes marijuana. Anyone can look it up. There are 7000 people per square mile in the area where our house is located. In Tacoma there are 13 blocks per mile. 20% of 7000 is 1400 people. That means that there are now 1400 pot smokers living within 6.5 blocks from me in any direction.
You do not think that I am not going to smell the heavy skunk like odor from 1400 pot smokers living half a mile from me in every direction? Many of these people smoke pot most of the day. Yet I am subjected to you and another pot addled poster calling me a “liar” along with multiple other insults and nasty names? And I am accused by you of using “belligerent language”? Anyone can go back through the thread and check the comments.
Your comments are a near perfect example of the type of cognitive dissonance that is so prevalent in those who have engaged in heavy, repeated, and consistent marijuana use over a period of years. Yet in previous threads you have claimed not to be a user... the reader can decide who is more likely to be lying.
I wasn’t going to waste any more bandwidth on that Luddite, but it’s early. Hang in there, FRiend.
Where we live in Washington State this is absolutely true.
There is your error in a nutshell: "Washington State" is not coterminous with "where we live in Washington State".
You shouldn't drink and post.
People whose brains are not addled by a long standing addiction to a mind altering drug could easily make the connection between my comments about being forced to go back inside on a summer evening and driving... that I was talking about where we live and not at the top of a mountain somewhere. But, I am so sorry that I didn’t properly premise the obvious for people whose brains have turned to jello and need a step by step explanation. Every post on one of your threads should probably be written at the third grade level or below. eg. Jack’s neighbors smoke pot. Jack’s neighbors drive while smoking pot. Where Jack lives and drives he can smell pot.
In Washington State. 2.5 Billion dollars a year are now spent for direct medical aid for people who have become wards of the state after they could not pay for the long term medical care from smoking tobacco. 12% of people in Washington smoke Tobacco regularly. 20% of the people living in Tacoma and Seattle are now regular Pot Smokers. In the end it is likely that smoking pot long term causes more damage than smoking tobacco. There will never be a fraction of the money collected in taxes from pot smokers to even out the future expense of taking care of them after they have ruined their minds and bodies and become wards of the state.
Do you support banning tobacco? (I don't.) If not, why not?
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