“Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, is sponsoring marijuana decriminalization legislation for the fourth consecutive year.”

“Decriminalization eliminates jail time for petty crimes for so many people and those crimes,” said Marty Schelper, president of ACC, “those misdemeanors and those felonies can actually prevent those people from getting jobs and having housing.”

Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, is sponsoring marijuana decriminalization legislation for the fourth consecutive year. The legislation has previously passed Senate Judiciary committee review, but died on the Senate floor. Schelper and other advocates are calling for the Alabama Legislature to expunge criminal records for marijuana possession while looking at racial disparities in arrest rates. They’d like lawmakers to then move forward with establishing medical Cannabis dispensaries.

20,000 people were arrested in 2021 for Cannabis possession in Texas, which may reduce the penalty for possession of Cannabis and Cannabis concentrates.

55,000 patients have enrolled so far in Virginia’s medical marijuana program. The state’s first medical marijuana dispensaries opened up more than two years ago.

STORIES by STEVE ELLIOTT, AUTHOR OF THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF