Off-Topic :
Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Va. Lt. Gov. Northam calls for decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana
Posted by:
CANNABIIS OF VIRGINIA LEGALIZE !
()
Date: February 18, 2017 04:34AM
Va. Lt. Gov. Northam calls for decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/va-lt-gov-northam-calls-for-decriminalizing-small-amounts-of/article_8188f74c-84c7-579e-b482-db537aa35dad.html
IT'S TIME FOR VIRGINIA TO ENTER THE MODERN DAY CENTURY!
Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam on Monday called for decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana in Virginia, saying enforcement is expensive and disproportionately jails African-Americans.
“As a doctor, I like to make the point to people, over 100 of the medicines that we use on a daily basis come from plants,” he said in an interview Monday. “So I think we need to be open-minded about using marijuana for medical purposes.”
But Northam, a Democrat, is talking about more than just medicine.
Northam wrote a column about various aspects of criminal justice and posted it Monday to his channel on Medium.com, a portal for stories and ideas. In it, he cited an ACLU study showing African-Americans in 2010 were 2.8 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in Virginia, which spends more than $67 million annually on marijuana enforcement.
That money could be better spent, he said.
“Where there is evidence-based data that suggests that marijuana is useful, then I think we should be open-minded,” he said.
Northam joins a growing list of Virginia politicians interested in the issue. Late last year, Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, questioned whether possession of small amounts of marijuana should remain a crime.
Norment in November requested a study of the issue from the Virginia State Crime Commission.
Because of the pending study, legislation from Sen. Adam P. Ebbin, D-Alexandria, was put on hold this year. Ebbin has proposed changing punishment for possession of small amounts of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil fine.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia had decriminalized small amounts of marijuana as of November, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Last November, voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada backed adult use of recreational marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, bringing to eight the number of states that have legalized small amounts of marijuana, along with Washington, D.C.
When asked how often he encountered a patient who used marijuana, Northam said “often.”
Veterans suffering from a brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder and people with multiple sclerosis find it helpful, he said.
Northam was a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk, where he lives, until he took leave early this year to run for governor this year. Norfolk City Council has been active in pushing for decriminalization, Northam noted.
pwilson@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6061
Twitter: @patrickmwilson
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/va-lt-gov-northam-calls-for-decriminalizing-small-amounts-of/article_8188f74c-84c7-579e-b482-db537aa35dad.html
CALL ALL YOUR SENATORS , CROOKED POLITICIANS AND SHOVE LEGAL CANNABIS DOWN THERE CROOKED SMALL THROATS!
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/va-lt-gov-northam-calls-for-decriminalizing-small-amounts-of/article_8188f74c-84c7-579e-b482-db537aa35dad.html
IT'S TIME FOR VIRGINIA TO ENTER THE MODERN DAY CENTURY!
Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam on Monday called for decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana in Virginia, saying enforcement is expensive and disproportionately jails African-Americans.
“As a doctor, I like to make the point to people, over 100 of the medicines that we use on a daily basis come from plants,” he said in an interview Monday. “So I think we need to be open-minded about using marijuana for medical purposes.”
But Northam, a Democrat, is talking about more than just medicine.
Northam wrote a column about various aspects of criminal justice and posted it Monday to his channel on Medium.com, a portal for stories and ideas. In it, he cited an ACLU study showing African-Americans in 2010 were 2.8 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in Virginia, which spends more than $67 million annually on marijuana enforcement.
That money could be better spent, he said.
“Where there is evidence-based data that suggests that marijuana is useful, then I think we should be open-minded,” he said.
Northam joins a growing list of Virginia politicians interested in the issue. Late last year, Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, questioned whether possession of small amounts of marijuana should remain a crime.
Norment in November requested a study of the issue from the Virginia State Crime Commission.
Because of the pending study, legislation from Sen. Adam P. Ebbin, D-Alexandria, was put on hold this year. Ebbin has proposed changing punishment for possession of small amounts of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil fine.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia had decriminalized small amounts of marijuana as of November, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Last November, voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada backed adult use of recreational marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, bringing to eight the number of states that have legalized small amounts of marijuana, along with Washington, D.C.
When asked how often he encountered a patient who used marijuana, Northam said “often.”
Veterans suffering from a brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder and people with multiple sclerosis find it helpful, he said.
Northam was a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk, where he lives, until he took leave early this year to run for governor this year. Norfolk City Council has been active in pushing for decriminalization, Northam noted.
pwilson@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6061
Twitter: @patrickmwilson
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/va-lt-gov-northam-calls-for-decriminalizing-small-amounts-of/article_8188f74c-84c7-579e-b482-db537aa35dad.html
CALL ALL YOUR SENATORS , CROOKED POLITICIANS AND SHOVE LEGAL CANNABIS DOWN THERE CROOKED SMALL THROATS!