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Republican lawmakers in Virginia push to change state marijuana laws

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Republican lawmakers in Virginia are pushing to change some provisions of the state’s marijuana laws, including moves that some say will strip the laws of their equity.

The GOP lawmakers, who are enjoying a majority in the House and a seat in the Governor’s mansion after last year’s elections, have proposed changes to the law that legalized simple possession of marijuana and to the retail sale and licensing process for marijuana in the state.

One of their proposed changes is to move up the start date of the retail process in Virginia in order to more quickly stomp the black market. They have also proposed scrapping a provision in the original law that would allow first priority for marijuana licenses to people who have previously been convicted of marijuana crimes.

This suggestion has come under fire by Democrats and marijuana offender advocacy groups, who say those who have been treated unfairly by old marijuana laws should be given the first chance to apply for their licenses.

“A lot of people have been overly penalized and overly policed and overly suffered because of our misguided policies of the past, and it’s time they stop suffering, and in fact have a chance to make up some lost ground in ways that their lives have been impacted,” said Virginia Democrat Senator Adam Ebbin.

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The proposed changes would also include changing the way tax revenue from marijuana sales is spent, including redirecting 30 percent of the funds from a Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund to fixing school buildings in the state.

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Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.

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