Virginia will be the first southern state to legalize marijuana possession on July 1. Adults 21 or older will be able to legally possess up to an ounce, but they may not use the drug in public and may not have intent to distribute. Marijuana retail dispensaries will not open until 2024 due to the lengthy legal process of creating an entirely new state agency to regulate the sale of the drug.

The focus of this legislation is not a free pass to get high, it is a step towards moving police energy away from regulating and incarcerating individuals with small amounts of marijuana to more pressing issues of gun violence and hard drugs.

“Virginia will become the 15th state to legalize marijuana,” Governor Ralph Northam told The Washington Post on March 31, “and these changes will ensure we do it with a focus on public safety, public health, and social justice.”

In the interview, Northam acknowledges the over policing of minority communities due to marijuana enforcement and wants to begin to amend the harm done to these communities. According to the article “Marijuana Legalization in Virginia: What You Need to Know” by Drew Wilder and Mariela Patron, “Black Virginians are still four times more likely than whites to face a court summons for possession of marijuana.”

“This goes back centuries, so what we’re doing now is just making it equitable,” Northam told NBC12 on April 21, “and we’re stopping the disproportionate arrests of individuals.”

Another benefit of the legalization is the tax revenue that will be collected on the legal sale of the drug. According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), marijuana legalization has shown to increase tax revenue for the state as much as 60%. That money can go towards infrastructure, schools, and healthcare.

Regulating the marijuana industry also decreases the possibility that marijuana is laced with more harmful drugs or substances.

Opinions on the legalization are mixed and it is still illegal for individuals under the age of 21 to possess any amount of marijuana.