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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.
Op-ed: What to make of Cory Gardner’s feud with Jeff Sessions
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Op-ed: What to make of Cory Gard
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Date: February 14, 2018 05:15PM
Op-ed: What to make of Cory Gardner’s feud with Jeff Sessions
https://www.thecannabist.co/2018/02/13/opinion-cory-gardner-feud-jeff-sessions/98937/
What an interesting battle Colorado’s junior senator — Republican Cory Gardner — has launched against fellow law-and-order conservative Jeff Sessions. For weeks now Gardner has blocked Senate confirmation of Justice Department nominees to try to knock some sense into the attorney general for threatening states like ours that have legalized recreational use of marijuana.
We applaud Gardner’s efforts, though with some caveats, and hope he prevails. The Obama administration should have done more to protect states when it had the chance, but the Cole-memo direction to respect states’ rights on legal cannabis was working fine. Sessions was wrong to rescind it.
Related stories
Berkeley to Jeff Sessions: We’re a sanctuary city for marijuana users
Senators: Add protections for state marijuana laws to legislation funding federal government
With marijuana banking legislation stalled, cannabusinesses awash with cash, vulnerable to violent crime
The attorney general started this wrongheaded fight despite assurances he gave Gardner and other senators that he would leave pot-friendly states be. After all, the immigration hardliner said, while lobbying for his own Senate confirmation, that he expected to be too busy running President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
It’s worth repeating that Sessions loathes pot, once joked that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was OK until he found out some of its members enjoyed the drug, and believes that those who use it aren’t good people.
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Virginia Senate passes bill that would expunge first marijuana charge
http://www.wmdt.com/news/virginia/virginia-senate-passes-bill-that-would-expunge-first-marijuana-charge/701176538
VIRGINIA - The state of Virginia is looking to reduce penalties for people charged with possession of marijuana.
If passed, Senate Bill 954 would make the first offense a maximum fine of 500 dollars. The way the law currently stands a charge can result in up to 30 days in jail.
The bill would allow the first offense to be eligible for expungement, but that is if the person charged pays a 150 dollar fee.
Revenue from these fees would go towards educating and preventing opioid abuse. The piece of legislation has made it out of the senate and must pass the House before it goes to the governor.
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https://www.facebook.com/vanorml
https://www.facebook.com/novanorml
http://www.vanorml.org
Marijuana-related bills in the 2018 Virginia General Assembly
The following marijuana-related bills have been filed for the 2018 Virginia General Assembly legislative session. This page will be updated regularly. Click the bill title for the complete text and additional information. Questions? Contact Virginia NORML at director@virginianorml.org or 804-464-7050 M-F 9-6.
http://www.vanorml.org/2018_legislation
TAKE ACTION
http://www.vanorml.org/act
Virginia Action Alerts:
URGENT: Expand Patient Access to Medical Cannabis: Let Doctors Decide
http://norml.org/action-center/item/virginianorml-let-doctors-decide
Virginia: Expand State’s Medical Cannabis Law
http://norml.org/action-center/item/virginianorml-let-doctors-decide
Federal Priorities:
Priority: Tell Congress to Reject Jeff Session's Reversal of the Cole Memo
http://norml.org/action-center/item/jeff-sessions-is-targeting-the-cannabis-community-it-s-time-for-congress-to-step-in
MJ Justice: The Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 Introduced
http://norml.org/action-center/item/the-marijuana-justice-act-of-2017-introduced
Caucus: Tell Your Congressional Representative: Join the Cannabis Caucus
http://norml.org/action-center/item/tell-your-congressional-representative-join-the-cannabis-caucus
Jeff Sessions Is Targeting Marijuana – It’s Time For Congress To Step In
http://norml.org/action-center/item/jeff-sessions-is-targeting-the-cannabis-community-it-s-time-for-congress-to-step-in
Protect Our Progress: Bipartisan Leaders Reintroduce the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act
http://norml.org/action-center/item/federal-bipartisan-leaders-reintroduce-the-respect-state-marijuana-laws-act
Timely (Budget Process): Tell Your Elected Officials To Protect Lawful Medical Marijuana Programs From Attorney General Jeff Sessions
http://norml.org/action-center/item/federal-protect-lawful-medical-marijuana-programs
https://www.thecannabist.co/2018/02/13/opinion-cory-gardner-feud-jeff-sessions/98937/
What an interesting battle Colorado’s junior senator — Republican Cory Gardner — has launched against fellow law-and-order conservative Jeff Sessions. For weeks now Gardner has blocked Senate confirmation of Justice Department nominees to try to knock some sense into the attorney general for threatening states like ours that have legalized recreational use of marijuana.
We applaud Gardner’s efforts, though with some caveats, and hope he prevails. The Obama administration should have done more to protect states when it had the chance, but the Cole-memo direction to respect states’ rights on legal cannabis was working fine. Sessions was wrong to rescind it.
Related stories
Berkeley to Jeff Sessions: We’re a sanctuary city for marijuana users
Senators: Add protections for state marijuana laws to legislation funding federal government
With marijuana banking legislation stalled, cannabusinesses awash with cash, vulnerable to violent crime
The attorney general started this wrongheaded fight despite assurances he gave Gardner and other senators that he would leave pot-friendly states be. After all, the immigration hardliner said, while lobbying for his own Senate confirmation, that he expected to be too busy running President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
It’s worth repeating that Sessions loathes pot, once joked that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was OK until he found out some of its members enjoyed the drug, and believes that those who use it aren’t good people.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virginia Senate passes bill that would expunge first marijuana charge
http://www.wmdt.com/news/virginia/virginia-senate-passes-bill-that-would-expunge-first-marijuana-charge/701176538
VIRGINIA - The state of Virginia is looking to reduce penalties for people charged with possession of marijuana.
If passed, Senate Bill 954 would make the first offense a maximum fine of 500 dollars. The way the law currently stands a charge can result in up to 30 days in jail.
The bill would allow the first offense to be eligible for expungement, but that is if the person charged pays a 150 dollar fee.
Revenue from these fees would go towards educating and preventing opioid abuse. The piece of legislation has made it out of the senate and must pass the House before it goes to the governor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
https://www.facebook.com/vanorml
https://www.facebook.com/novanorml
http://www.vanorml.org
Marijuana-related bills in the 2018 Virginia General Assembly
The following marijuana-related bills have been filed for the 2018 Virginia General Assembly legislative session. This page will be updated regularly. Click the bill title for the complete text and additional information. Questions? Contact Virginia NORML at director@virginianorml.org or 804-464-7050 M-F 9-6.
http://www.vanorml.org/2018_legislation
TAKE ACTION
http://www.vanorml.org/act
Virginia Action Alerts:
URGENT: Expand Patient Access to Medical Cannabis: Let Doctors Decide
http://norml.org/action-center/item/virginianorml-let-doctors-decide
Virginia: Expand State’s Medical Cannabis Law
http://norml.org/action-center/item/virginianorml-let-doctors-decide
Federal Priorities:
Priority: Tell Congress to Reject Jeff Session's Reversal of the Cole Memo
http://norml.org/action-center/item/jeff-sessions-is-targeting-the-cannabis-community-it-s-time-for-congress-to-step-in
MJ Justice: The Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 Introduced
http://norml.org/action-center/item/the-marijuana-justice-act-of-2017-introduced
Caucus: Tell Your Congressional Representative: Join the Cannabis Caucus
http://norml.org/action-center/item/tell-your-congressional-representative-join-the-cannabis-caucus
Jeff Sessions Is Targeting Marijuana – It’s Time For Congress To Step In
http://norml.org/action-center/item/jeff-sessions-is-targeting-the-cannabis-community-it-s-time-for-congress-to-step-in
Protect Our Progress: Bipartisan Leaders Reintroduce the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act
http://norml.org/action-center/item/federal-bipartisan-leaders-reintroduce-the-respect-state-marijuana-laws-act
Timely (Budget Process): Tell Your Elected Officials To Protect Lawful Medical Marijuana Programs From Attorney General Jeff Sessions
http://norml.org/action-center/item/federal-protect-lawful-medical-marijuana-programs