Several lawmakers and advocates encourage Governor Northam to move forward with marijuana legalization this year instead of 2024.

During last month’s General Assembly, the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates passed legislation that will legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, with retail sales beginning in 2024.

However, for some, legalization should happen sooner, and more leaders are urging Governor Ralph Northam to send down legislative amendment that would make it possible this year. According to the Virginia Mercury, leaders such as Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) are emphasizing the urgency of doing so, especially when it comes to communities of color.

“I am encouraging my colleagues to join me in asking the Governor to #LegalizeMarijuana on July 1, 2021,” wrote Sen. Louise Lucas in a tweet this week. “Kicking the can down the road has the effect of continued over policing people of color.”

Virginia reduced the penalty for marijuana possession to a $25 fine last summer, but court records show Black people are still four times more likely than White people to receive a citation despite the fact there is no significant difference in use between the two groups.

The Senate’s version of this year’s legalization bill aimed to address that unequal enforcement by ending the prohibition on possessing and using the drug beginning in July, but the language was rejected by the House of Delegates.

House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, who carried the legislation in the House, has said she worried making the drug legal before businesses could be licensed to sell it would encourage the illicit market.

Advocacy groups provided the state Supreme Court data which demonstrates the disparities in marijuana citations. According to their research, police around the state issued more than 4,500 citations in the second half of last year. And in most localities, Black people were far more likely than White people to receive a citation. 

Although Northam has made no decision at this time, should he decide to move forward with legislation, it could be voted upon when the assembly comes back together on April 7.