Virginia has signed a bill to decriminalize marijuana, according to WHSV 3.
Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam over the weekend announced he signed into law a bill that will replace criminal charges for marijuana possession with a $25 civil penalty.
"Virginians have long opposed the criminalization of personal marijuana possession, and Governor Northam’s signature turns that public opinion into public policy,” Jenn Michelle Pedini, development director for National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in a statement.
“Decriminalization is an incredibly important first step, and one that many thought we may never see in Virginia, but we cannot stop until we have legal and regulated adult use,” Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said in a statement.
Before the bill's passage, marijuana possession was a misdemeanor that carried up to a $500 fine.
Virginia is one of 16 states where marijuana has only been decriminalized, while 11 states and Washington, D.C. have made weed legal.
In February, the Virginia statehouse directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study and make recommendations for how Virginia should go about legalizing and regulating the growth, sale, and possession of marijuana by July 2022, and address the impacts of marijuana prohibition.
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