Marijuana; legalization of simple possession, etc. (HB2312)

Introduced By

Del. Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria) with support from 24 copatrons, whose average partisan position is:

Those copatrons are Del. Dawn Adams (D-Richmond), Del. Hala Ayala (D-Woodbridge), Del. Lamont Bagby (D-Richmond), Del. Jeff Bourne (D-Richmond), Del. Lee Carter (D-Manassas), Del. Josh Cole (D-Stafford), Del. Kelly Fowler (D-Virginia Beach), Del. Angelia Williams Graves (D-Norfolk), Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D-Dale City), Del. Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax Station), Del. Steve Heretick (D-Portsmouth), Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), Del. Chris Hurst (D-Blacksburg), Del. Clinton Jenkins (D-Suffolk), Del. Kaye Kory (D-Falls Church), Del. Mark Levine (D-Alexandria), Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington), Del. Delores McQuinn (D-Richmond), Del. Cia Price (D-Newport News), Del. David Reid (D-Loudoun), Del. Ibraheem Samirah (D-Herndon), Del. Don Scott (D-Portsmouth), Del. Marcus Simon (D-Falls Church), Del. Shelly Simonds (D-Newport News)

Description

Marijuana; legalization; retail sales; penalties. Eliminates criminal penalties for simple possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by persons 21 years of age or older, modifies several other criminal penalties related to marijuana, and imposes limits on dissemination of criminal history record information related to certain marijuana offenses. The bill creates the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (the Authority), the Cannabis Oversight Commission, the Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council, the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board and Fund, and the Virginia Cannabis Equity Business Loan Program and Fund and establishes a regulatory and licensing structure for the cultivation, manufacture, wholesale, and retail sale of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products, to be administered by the Authority. The bill contains social equity provisions that, among other things, provide support and resources to persons and communities that have been historically and disproportionately affected by drug enforcement. The bill has staggered effective dates, and numerous provisions of the bill are subject to reenactment by the 2022 Session of the General Assembly. This bill incorporates HB 1815 and is identical to SB 1406. See H. B. 2312 Enrolled PDF text: https://lis.virginia.gov/000/housecannabisenrolled.pdf See H. B. 2312 Governor's Substitute PDF text: https://lis.virginia.gov/000/housecannabisgovernorsub.pdf See H. B. 2312 Re-Enrolled PDF text: https://lis.virginia.gov/000/housecannabisreenrolled.pdf Read the Bill »

Status

05/17/2021: Awaiting a Vote in the Finance and Appropriations Committee

History

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