Pubdate: Fri, 23 Jan 2015
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2015 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Jenna Portnoy

LEGISLATORS PUSH TO DECRIMINALIZE TWO FORMS OF POT

RICHMOND - State Sen. Adam P. Ebbin wants Virginia to join more than 
a dozen states that have decriminalized possession of small amounts 
of marijuana.

The lawmaker is pushing a bill that would downgrade the offense from 
a criminal charge to a civil one with a fine of up to $100.

Under current Virginia law, a criminal arrest for having a small 
amount of marijuana could have serious consequences - from a 
six-month driver's license suspension to having to check a box on job 
applications admitting to a criminal history, said Ebbin 
(D-Alexandria). There also is a wide racial disparity in how the law 
is enforced.

"We cannot continue to hide behind a fear of a plant in our criminal 
code," he said at a news conference Thursday.

Yet Ebbin said he is realistic about how unlikely it is that his 
colleagues would support the bill in the Senate, where Republicans 
have a slim majority. And, he said, the issue has never been debated 
on the floor.

"What's important is this has never been discussed in the Virginia 
Senate in a decriminalization way, and it needs to be," he said.

In 2000, Del. Harvey B. Morgan proposed similar legislation that went 
nowhere. There is currently no companion bill in the House.

In November, D.C. voters overwhelmingly approved legalizing 
marijuana, but Congress blocked the effort as part of a deal to fund 
the federal government.

Ebbin's bill would stop far short of outright legalization, but he 
said he has gotten pushback from law enforcement representatives, 
such as the Fraternal Order of Police.

Some argue that decriminalizing marijuana is a matter of fairness.

Frank Knaack, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said 
African Americans are 2.8 times as likely to be arrested for 
marijuana possession in Virginia than whites are, even though the 
groups use marijuana at the same rate.

Also on Thursday, the Senate Education and Health Committee 
considered a bill that would legalize two oils that are extracts of 
marijuana to treat people with severe epilepsy. Sen. David W. Marsden 
(D-Fairfax), who sponsored the bill, said the oils cannot get anyone 
"high" but can be more effective than conventional epilepsy drugs.

"It's a huge relief for kids who right now are limited to 
FDA-approved drugs with really, really troubling side effects," he 
said. "These are kids who suffer hundreds of seizures a day."

The committee postponed action on the bill until next week.

Laura Vozzella contributed to this report.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom