Members of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Nick Pasko, Stefan Reed, Jason Matthys, Ashley Milligan and Zakk Adams, hand out pamphlets and introduce their club to students at NOVA's Woodbridge campus on March 24.

The American public’s sentiment for creating sensible marijuana laws is ever increasing, and it seems someone finally brought these ideas to Virginia with the introduction of House Bill 1134.

Delegate Harvey Morgan was an unlikely candidate  to sponsor the first marijuana decriminalization bill in Virginia for over 30 years. The second most senior member of the Virginia House of Delegates, a Republican and pharmacist by trade; Delegate Morgan commands respect among his peers in the Virginia Legislature.

“I think the penalty should fit the crime,” says Morgan. “If it’s a crime to use [marijuana], it’s not a serious crime.”

Current maximum penalties for simple marijuana possession go from a $500 fine and 30 days in jail for a first offense, to a $2500 fine and 365 days in jail for subsequent offenses.

His bill would remove all criminal penalties for possession of under one ounce of marijuana, and keep the $500 fine already on the books. This would turn minor marijuana possession into a civil, rather than criminal offense, while leaving harsh penalties for larger amounts and dealing marijuana.

What would make an elected official do such a thing? Being 79 years old, Delegate Morgan is more concerned with doing what is right than with reelection.

“I’ve been here a long time; if my constituents want me to retire, so can it be. I’m not saying I want to – I didn’t say that at all – but I think what I am doing is the right thing.”

Delegate Morgan is not alone in his support for marijuana reform; several other Virginia lawmakers have openly shown their approval. There is mounting evidence that delegates should not be apprehensive about supporting marijuana decriminalization. A 2002 poll by CNN and Time Magazine found that 72% of Americans think marijuana consumers should not be sent to jail.

A study by the California State Office of Narcotics and Drug Abuse found that “The reduction in penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use does not appear to have been a factor in people’s decision to use or not use the drug.” Other studies have also come to the same conclusion.

The most recent state to decriminalize marijuana has been Massachusetts, where a $100 fine has replaced criminal penalties for possessing up to an ounce of marijuana. Voters passed this referendum by a greater margin than they voted for Barack Obama. Massachusetts saves millions of dollars annually in reduced court and law enforcement costs, a significant benefit in these harsh economic times.

The fact that Virginia is considering this type of legislation should come as no surprise. Our laws have been wholly ineffective. Nearly 20,000 marijuana arrests are made in Virginia every year, comprising 65% of all drug arrests. This number is nearly equal to all violent crime arrests combined.

The people charged with these simple marijuana crimes get a mark on their record not for a year or a decade even, but for the rest of their lives. This is amazingly unfair and wasteful. There is no evidence that harsh marijuana laws discourage its use, and creating so many misdemeanor offenders hurts Virginia’s productivity by keeping otherwise qualified individuals out of the workforce. This can have lasting permanent consequences for people who are convicted of marijuana possession in their late teens or early twenties; possibly changing the course of their entire lives.

It is time for these backwards marijuana policies to take a permanent vacation. A new day is dawning where the criminal justice system is no longer unreasonably strained by marijuana laws in Virginia.

Decriminalization is more reasonable, compassionate and understanding of the bottom line, which is this: drug use is not a criminal justice issue, it is a health issue. As a member of a club called Students for Sensible Drug Policy at NVCC, I am ready to be a part of that change.

Our mission is to promote drug policy reform efforts and to educate our peers about the true harms of substance use. Upon hearing about the Virginia Decriminalization bill, we instantly took interest in joining the effort. We began tabling that very week at the Woodbridge campus to spread the word among students.

After students provided us their zip code, we would look up their legislators on the Virginia General Assembly website, and give them the information needed for them to contact their representatives. The effort was hugely successful with over 100 students making calls to representatives in support of marijuana decriminalization.

This all culminated in a trip to Richmond where a few SSDP members from several colleges met with representatives to voice our support for marijuana law reform. This is what democracy in action is all about.

Unfortunately, Morgan’s decriminalization bill was tabled for the year, meaning it is basically dead. Over 200 people attended the hearing on the bill in the Virginia Courts of Justice Subcommittee. Every citizen who testified at the hearing was in favor, including former members of law enforcement. The Virginia Prosecutors Association even stated that it would be in favor of the bill with a few conditions.

This gives us an optimistic view of our chances for enacting this legislation in the future, and Delegate Morgan has expressed that this may be the most popular bill he has introduced in the over 30 years he has served as a State lawmaker. There are plans to reintroduce it next year and there is good chance it may one day pass. SSDP will surely be there working to make it a reality.

Jason Matthys is the president of the college wide Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. He can be reached at nvccssdp@gmail.com.

By Jason Matthys

By: Contributing Author

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