Marijuana Bills

Marijuana Bills 

By: Logan Rowland - YMCA Arlington – Washington-Lee  

Many Bill Patrons choose to address polemic issues at Model General Assembly.  On Saturday, two Delegates in the Commonwealth House chose to tackle the oft-controversial topic of marijuana regulation. 

The first bill, HB 13, proposed alterations to the penalties for possession of less than 0.5-ounces of marijuana on a person.  The intention was to decrease the consequences of possession. In the words of Bill Patron Tsomo Naranbayar, YMCA Arlington – Washington-Lee, “Taking this step to decriminalize would be an important step because our General Assembly is very divided upon this issue.  I think that a giant leap towards legalization would face a lot of challenges and would not move forward as progressively as one would hope.” Naranbayar and her contemporary, Senator Clemens Finger, changed the current legislation by amending §18.2-250.1 of the Virginia Code. 

 

As stated in his committee meeting, Finger and Naranbayar added the specification that their bill only applies to less than one-half ounce of marijuana because “regulation before this [bill] and in other codes of Virginia said that one half ounce made it intent to sell.”  This was added to the bill mainly for clarification, while the other changes were what was really the reason for writing the bill. The bill was crafted to make first and second offenses of possession only finable, while the third and subsequent offenses would be punishable as a Class 2 misdemeanor. 

This bill started in the General Laws Committee.  Molly Redmond, Saint Gertrude High School, was also in the committee, said that this bill was not as radical, because it just changed the punishments of marijuana possession, rather than tackling the subject of legalization.  She said, “A few people did oppose [the bill], but mainly, everyone was receptive of it. Everyone agreed it was just a small drug charge with a minor drug.” In the House Chambers, there was some discussion, with Delegates arguing both for and against the bill.  One amendment passed, which directed some of the money coming from the fines of those caught in possession into research regarding substance abuse. 

After being passed with amendment through the House, the bill progressed to the Senate General Laws Committee.  Again, it passed, but with one amendment. This amendment changed the penalties to increase them, in order to find a greater middle ground between the former and new penalties for possession.  This changed the penalty for a second offense to a Class 2 misdemeanor and the third and subsequent offenses would be a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill progresses to the Senate Chambers tomorrow morning. 

In contrast to the position of decriminalization presented in this bill, HB 17, written by delegates from YMCA Arlington – Career Center, moved to completely legalize the use and possession of marijuana for people over the age of 21.  The Delegate, Michael Ferguson, said that he chose to write this bill because “a lot of people get penalized for doing a nonviolent act that hurts nobody.”  The premise of this bill is that marijuana should be regulated in much the same way that alcohol is. 

This bill, because it is for full legalization, instead of steps in that direction, such as lower penalties or decriminalization, did have more debate on the floor.  Many people argued for both sides and it was a prime issue for lobbying. Two of these lobbyists, Kaylee Frye, Kecoughtan High School, and Ben Buckreis, YMCA Arlington – O'Connell, found that the tax benefits and economic benefits from the state-regulated sale of marijuana outweigh any possible negative outcomes.   They agree that money that can be redirected from illegal actors into legalized sales, as well as money saved by not incarcerating the large numbers now convicted of marijuana possession and use crimes. 

This bill was first passed through the House Counties, Cities, and Towns committee with no amendments.  Delegate Stephen Hall, Nandua High School, who was also in the CCT Committee, said that the committee meeting generally included a lot of support for the bill.  He reports that there were some clarifying questions in committee, regarding subjects such as regulation and amounts legal for purchase and possession. However, after entering House Chambers, it was amended before passing.  It was then sent to the Senate Local Governments Committee, where it was again reported with the amendments. It goes to the Senate Chambers floor Saturday morning. 

Both of these bills have precedent in the formal General Assembly.  Just this past January, Delegate Stephen Heretick introduced legislation to decriminalize and legalize marijuana in the state of Virginia.  This bill, HB 2371, would have removed all penalties for the possession of marijuana by persons over the age of 21. While under this legal age, possession would constitute civil, rather than criminal, penalties.  These range from not more than $50 for a first offense to not more than $250 for a third or subsequent offense. The bill also provided precedent for the regulation of the growth, manufacture, testing, and sale of marijuana within the state of Virginia (lis.virginia.gov).  It was defeated in the House Courts of Justice. In a Facebook post, Heretick said that the failure was a “sad day” for the state and that the committee demonstrated that they are “out of touch” with Virginian voters (pilotonline.com). 

Of course, there were delegates within the House who felt very partisan views about these bills and how they relate to the future of Virginia’s marijuana use.  Lance Ayers, Faith Christian School, said “I am actually against [HB 17]. Not only the legalization of marijuana itself, but largely the regulation of it, especially with how it pertains to minors.”  Many delegates shared this view in relation to the regulation of minors in particular. It received a lot of attention on the floor and discussion and debate between delegates. 

On the other hand, delegates such as John Osborne, Kenston Forest School, was strongly in support of the bill.  He says, “Virginia is a state that doesn’t have as much cash inflow as some of the other states, such as California and New York… I think the marijuana legalization bill will bring a lot of business here to the Commonwealth of Virginia.  And of course, it will provide us with 500 billion dollars, if not more in tax revenue.” The economic benefits to the state were mentioned by many of those who referenced the bill. For many, this was the reason for passing the bill, and it was often reiterated by Delegate Michael Ferguson, the bill patron. 

  

References 

Heretick, Stephen. “House Bill No. 2371.” Virginia's Legislative Information System, Division of Legislative Automated Systems, 8 Jan. 2019, lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191 sum HB2371. 

Martin, Saleen. “Virginia Marijuana Bills Die in House Committee.” The Virginian-Pilot, The Virginian-Pilot, 17 Jan. 2019, pilotonline.com/news/government/politics/virginia/article_6be58688-1a04-11e9-98f4-37374dff7d14.html.