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.
Nonsense - it's a more concentrated version of the same active ingredient, like Everclear versus beer.
one hit of the concentrated stuff gives a high that is unattainable from smoking leaf.
The intensity of the initial rush, sure - and ditto for Everclear. But to say an intense initial rush "will inevitably lead to harder drugs" is rubbish.
Prohibition failed because the country had become reliant on it, economically and culturally.
Marijuana prohibition is failing in the same ways: many still use, and thereby enrich violent criminals to the detriment of us all.
Are red states Alaska, Montana, and South Dakota - legalizers all - also not what we aspire to?
Florida has if for medical purposes and we are redder then red.
So far it seems that states that legalize tend to go more stupid and blue. Fairly quickly too. So don’t hold onto that if it spreads.
The concentrated stuff was coming to the fore even before legalization; and only in a legal market can there be any hope of effectively regulating and restricting concentration.
The Demon Weed hysterics are ridiculous.
And yet you’re overwhelmingly and hilariously unaware how you’re basically being laughed off your own thread.
They all went to DAM
Mothers against dyslexia
I don’t use but I think a user would find it much easier to drive to a legal
dispensary where he or she would have their choice of any of a number of different varieties- precisely weighed, etc., as opposed to buying off the street.
No, we don't aspire to be dumb voters
So the Alaska, Montana, and South Dakota voters who gave Donald Trump a substantial majority of their votes are "dumb", eh? OK.
Vast majority of deaths are in the inner cities, dregs of society. No loss.
Crime, fueled by drug money, also spills out to the suburbs where non-"dregs" live.
Bringing the drugs to destroy healthy minds/souls
Pot is already here - legalization "brings" nothing but simply takes profits out of the hands of violent criminals.
Dumbing down of society. Works for me; kids are grown up, drug-free, gainfully employed. More drug losers will dumb down the schools even further, more need for socialism to fund the incompetent. What happens in the inner cities? Higher prices because of higher state-wide demand; can’t be good for their already empty wallets. Stupid legislation promoted by stupid governors/legislators whose only interest is tax revenue. Seriously, what do the pols know but fundraising?
For your interest.
Mine too. I'll bet yours, like mine, could easily have gotten pot despite its illegality - and are not drunks despite the legality of that drug.
More drug losers
Even before legalization I never heard of anyone saying they'd like to use pot but just couldn't find any.
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