Legalize it right

Nationwide, Black and white people use marijuana at similar rates. In Virginia, Black people make up about 20 percent of the population—but 52 percent of citations for marijuana possession in the last year were given to Black people, says Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice, a Richmond-based group fighting for the enactment of […]

Seeing green

What would you do with $300 million in drug money?  That’s the question now facing the Virginia General Assembly. Both the Virginia House and Senate have passed bills promising to legalize marijuana for adult use by 2024. In the coming days, legislators from the two chambers will meet to reconcile the two bills before sending […]

C-B-Deal with it: Marijuana isn’t legal yet, but C’ville offers plenty of weed-adjacent de-stressing options

If you’re anxious about trying CBD for anxiety, you’ve got reasons to chill. One, there’s now sky-high piles of evidence that the stuff works. Two, the governor’s on your side. Ralph Northam announced on November 16 that he supports legalizing marijuana—and CBD, a less potent derivative, has been federally legal since 2018. A quick primer […]

In brief: Shifting precincts, hefty raise, murky water and more

Know your polling place It’s been an eventful couple years, and if you want to speak up when it matters (by voting in the midterms on November 6) your deadline to register is October 15. With that in mind, we also want to remind 15,000 voters in Albemarle County that their polling places have changed. […]

Pot bellied: When pets get into marijuana

I’m suspicious right away. His dilated pupils don’t seem focused on anything in particular, and his usually chipper demeanor has been replaced with a vacant haze unmoored from time and space. His head lists to one side before jerking back to center, like a student fighting to stay awake in a lecture. His eyes squint […]

In brief: Death of a playwright, opine on pot and more

Curtain call Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and actor Sam Shepard, author of Buried Child, died July 27 from complications related to Lou Gehrig’s disease, according to a family member. Shepard lived with actress Jessica Lange on a farm near Scottsville for 10 years until the mid-’90s. He was 73.   Teacher in custody Longtime Charlottesville High […]

In brief: Ticked off, non-Klan events and more

Unstoppable Brogdon UVA alum Malcolm Brogdon was named NBA Rookie of the Year last week. He plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, and is the first second-round pick to receive the award. No word on how many rookies have two college degrees, including a master’s in public policy. Monticello hacked A cyberattack on Jefferson’s home early […]

In brief: Patricia Kluge’s new gig, municipal scofflaws and more

McAuliffe’s pen In his last year in office, Governor Terry McAuliffe was unable to deliver on a campaign promise to expand Medicaid to 400,000 uninsured citizens, which is supported by 69 percent of Virginians, according to a recent University of Maryland poll. The General Assembly’s Republican majority prevented that, but it was not able to […]

‘Life-changing’: Medical marijuana inches toward desperate families

Within the next few years, three Charlottesville families will be able to legally obtain the cannabis oil extract that eases the seizures of their children with debilitating intractable epilepsy, thanks to unanimous approval in the General Assembly in February, passing even the usually marijuana-averse House of Delegates 99-0. Good news, right? Yet none of those […]