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Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Drive on: New Virginia law changes punishment for marijuana possession

RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — On Saturday, several new laws will go into effect in Virginia.

One will help more people keep their driver’s license after being charged with marijuana possession. It will allow a judge to opt for additional community service instead of automatically suspending someone’s driver’s license for six months. HB 2051 / SB 1091 impacts adults who were not operating a vehicle at the time of the offense.

It’s something Ryan Johnson wishes had been in place when his license was suspended. When he was in college, he was caught with marijuana at a party.

“It definitely took me by surprise when I found out that my license was going to automatically get suspended for something that didn’t involve a car,” he said.

That’s why he rallied behind the push to get the law changed. He emailed representatives, went to the General Assembly, attended hearings and gave his testimony in front of lawmakers.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for reminding me not to get caught with a doobie in Virginia.