Leaders of Virginia’s House of Delegates are joining the call to implement marijuana legalization this year—contrary to the position their chamber previously took in negotiations with the Senate that resulted in a 2024 date for legal cannabis under a bill that’s now on the governor’s desk House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D) said on Friday that the legislature-approved measure should be amended to make July 1 the effective date for legal marijuana possession. She also proposed three further revisions concerning resentencing, expungements and home cultivation. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) on Wednesday signaled that he also wants to push up the effective date, saying, “I personally don’t think we should be arresting or penalizing somebody for something we’re getting ready to legalize.” “I plan to place a number of amendments in front of the legislature, and hopefully we’ll be able to move those forward,” he said. As currently drafted, the proposal that passed the legislature last month would make it so possession and cultivation for personal use would continue to be criminalized until January 1, 2024, when the retail market would also launch.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 03/27/2021 10:21:00