NORML to hold marijuana law reform symposium in Richmond

National Drug Reform Leaders To Address Cannabis in the Commonwealth

Virginia NORML to hold marijuana law reform symposium in Richmond next Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 5:00 pm.

Richmond, VA - Virginia NORML is proud to present “The Politics of Cannabis in the Commonwealth”, a plenary session of Virginias’ most prominent criminal justice reform leaders on September 25, 2010 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. The event begins at 5:00 pm, and is hosted by the VCU Chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy in the Richmond Salons located in the Student Commons building, 907 Floyd Avenue in Richmond. A benefit reception for Virginia NORML is planned immediately after the conference.
Admission to both the conference and reception is open to the public.

Speakers for the event include the well-known founder and legal counsel for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
(NORML) R. Keith Stroup, Esq., president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation Eric Sterling; cannabis policy expert Dr. John Gettman, as well as northern Virginia criminal defense lawyer, and Virginia NORML board member Christopher Leibig. Other speakers include Lennice Werth, the founder of Virginians Against Drug Violence and Robert Sharpe, one of the most published activists in the marijuana law reform movement with more than 2,300 letters to the editor and dozens of newspaper op-eds published.

Delegate Harvey Morgan, R-98, has announced that he plans to introduce legislation in the House of Representatives next year to reform the state’s archaic marijuana laws that have been in place since the 1970s.
Currently, if you’re caught with even a small amount of cannabis in the state you can be given 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for the first offense.

According to Morgan, Virginia is currently suffering from a staggering loss of jobs, a struggling economy and is spending millions of dollars every year to try to control this harmless plant. Changing our current marijuana policy could inject billions into the state budget, providing funding for roads, schools and other infrastructure improvements across the state.
This is the second time that Del. Morgan has tried to change the state’s marijuana laws. Last year he called for a “compassionate and sensible drug policy for Virginia,” and introduced legislation which would have removed language in the state’s current laws that restricts how doctors can prescribe cannabis. When the bill failed to even make it to the floor for a vote, Morgan responded by saying, “Chairman, we’ll be back.”

Contact:
Dee Duffy, Executive Director
Virginia NORML
dee@virginianorml.org
www.virginianorml.org