Virginia Adjusts Marijuana Legalization Timing by Six Months

The American economy is a lot like a cannonball at the moment, just waiting for someone, or some thing, to light the fuse.

We have a population tamped by a global pandemic, who are not only ready to get out and spend some money on recreation, but they’ve spent much of the last year in solitude, saving.  When this pandemic is finally over, they will begin spending with a vengeance, possibly kicking off a sequel to last century’s “roaring twenties”.

In places like New York and Virginia, they are looking to super charge this economic boom with a little bit of the ol’ wacky tobacc-y.

Virginia’s Democratic-controlled Legislature passed a bill legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana on Wednesday, making it the 16th state to take the step.

Under Virginia’s new law, adults ages 21 and over can possess an ounce or less of marijuana beginning on July 1, rather than Jan. 1, 2024. Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, proposed moving up the date, arguing it would be a mistake to continue to penalize people for possessing a drug that would soon be legal.

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, also a Democrat, broke a 20-20 vote tie in Virginia’s Senate to pass the bill. No Republicans supported the measure.

Democratic House of Delegates Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn hailed the plan.

“Today, with the Governor’s amendments, we will have made tremendous progress in ending the targeting of Black and brown Virginians through selective enforcement of marijuana prohibition by this summer,” she said in a statement.

A majority of US states now have some form of legal or decriminalized marijuana, but the plant remains scheduled as a narcotic by the federal government.

Furthermore, Mexico and Canada have both nationally legalized the plant, essentially shutting the United States out of a massive economic and agricultural industry in North America.