Joint resolution
Let’s start by putting it bluntly: On Friday, Virginia’s legislature voted to legalize marijuana, becoming the first state in the South to do so.
Some details of the bill still need to be hashed out, however. Retail sales of legal marijuana to Virginians 21 and up won’t begin until 2024, and the new legislation doesn’t mean we can all go out and become budding gardeners in our backyards. The sale of the drug will be regulated by a new state agency, similar to the Alcoholic Beverage Control, and retail licenses will be passed out sparingly.
The state hopes to keep marijuana sales centralized to maximize tax revenue—studies have suggested that $300 million per year in weed taxes could roll into the commonwealth’s pocket after legalization.
Jenn Michelle Pedini, director of legalization advocacy group Virginia NORML, praised the “historic vote,” but emphasized that the process isn’t done yet. “There still remains much work to be done by NORML and others to ensure that Virginia gets it right and implements legislation that is expeditious and just,” said Pedini in a press release.
Im-plaque-able activists
Debate continues over how to properly memorialize the location where enslaved people were bought and sold in Court Square. Last year, local activist Richard Allan illicitly removed a metal plaque from the spot, saying the marker was an insufficient tribute to the atrocities committed there. Now, Allan is leading a group of citizens calling for a more prominent memorial.
The city’s Historic Resources Committee has promised to work on the project, saying that more progress hasn’t been made because COVID has stalled important outreach to the descendants of those who were sold at the spot. Allan and his coalition are eager to see progress made, however, and last Friday the group took matters into their own hands, holding a meeting to announce that each Wednesday they’ll gather at the spot with a portable, eye-level marker to reflect and remember.
“There’s a stain in this corner, caused by our city’s failure to honor the 20,000 people—[whose] spirits are here with us—these enslaved workers who built Albemarle and Charlottesville,” said Allan. “We believe that silence about racism can be the same as violence about racism.”
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Quote of the week
“A year ago, legalizing marijuana and abolishing the death
penalty were far-fetched. But Black Lives Matter protests moved the needle, so we just did both.”
—Delegate Ibraheem Samirah (D-Loudoun) on new laws coming out of the Virginia General Assembly
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In brief
Likely lieutenants
Yet another candidate has announced a 2021 run for lieutenant governor of Virginia, with Fairfax County NAACP leader Sean Perryman becoming the 13th person to declare they’re seeking the office next year. Why’s the job so popular this year? What does the lieutenant governor even do? Not to sound cynical, but one thing the lieutenant governor often does is hold higher office later on. Five of the last nine LGs to leave office have later become governor, and three of those nine have gone on to serve in the U.S. Congress.
Running it back
UVA project manager Brian Pinkston announced this week that he’s once again running for a seat on City Council. Pinkston, who also holds a doctorate in philosophy from UVA, finished fourth in a five-way Democratic Primary in 2019. Two council seats will be available this fall. Longtime school board member Juandiego Wade has thrown his hat in the ring, and Mayor Nikuyah Walker will seek re-election. Councilor Heather Hill hasn’t announced her plans yet.
Funny money
Mayor Nikuyah Walker is being investigated by the city for unauthorized spending, the mayor revealed in a Facebook live stream over the weekend. In her broadcast, Walker admitted to distributing gift cards to community members. “Speakers come and speak, typically about how to infuse equity in the conversation, and I pay them,” she said. In a February 3 memo to City Council, Acting City Attorney Lisa Robertson wrote that “Even a small unauthorized purchase can have serious legal consequences.” The commonwealth’s attorney’s office did not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. We’ll keep you posted as the story develops.
