HIGH TIMES

Virginia Becomes First Southern State to Legalize Marijuana

The bill, which becomes law in 2024, will legalize recreational marijuana use in what supporters say is a nod to racial justice.

On Sunday Virginia was the first southern state to legalize recreational marijuana by passing a bill aimed at ending disparate treatment of people of color in the criminal justice system. More than a dozen states now allow recreational marijuana use. The Virginia law was drafted after a commission studied various ways to grow and regulate marijuana focused on historic inequities and racial injustice caused by marijuana criminalization in that state. The study found that the arrest rate of Black people for marijuana possession was 3.5 times higher than the arrest rate of white people. Under the legislation, possession of up to one ounce of marijuana will be legal the same day regulations go into effect in the state.