The statewide work of Marijuana Justice has already made an impact by creating less harsh penalties in 2020 decriminalization and fighting for redressing past harms within the 2021 legalization proposal. Marijuana Justice is excited to continue to build people power in the Commonwealth to fully dismantle the Virginia Drug War and bring restitution to our Indigenous, Black, and other disparately impacted family members.

This specific project will help to end the harm the cannabis prohibition has had on our state. Despite legalizing cannabis this year, there are still people locked in our prisons and jails for cannabis-related crimes, as well as people who are on probation or otherwise negatively impacted by old cannabis-related convictions. Our project will identify how many people are affected and seek to end or reduce the harm done by cannabis prohibition through 2022 legalization.

Ultimately, we need lawyers to help with research and draft specific legislation relating to reparations through guaranteed Income by way of direct cash payments for people convicted of cannabis-related offenses in the past. The project will also need a memo to help explain the choices made in writing the legislation and any data learned in the process of conducting the background research for the project. The lawyer may also create summaries of data collected during the project. This data will be used in the resentencing context and other areas, including social equity, child welfare analysis and reparations from prohibition-related harm.