Yo, peep this, my man. So, there was this bill in Virginia tryna protect the rights of parents who be using cannabis, right? They wanted to make sure that just cuz you smoke a little green don’t mean you a bad parent or neglecting your kids. But then Governor Glenn Youngkin had to come in and ruin the party by vetoing the bill.
HB 833 was gonna make it so that weed couldn’t be the only reason for saying someone was abusing or neglecting their kids. Plus, they didn’t want drug testing to count legal substances like alcohol and weed against parents in custody battles. But Youngkin was all like, nah, we don’t need this law and it might hurt the kids.
But Del. Rae Cousins, the one who sponsored the bill, wasn’t having it. She straight up called out Youngkin for wanting to break up families and not caring about the kids. She pointed out how this stuff hits Black and Brown families the hardest, even when they’re using drugs responsibly.
The journey of this bill was wild, man. The Senate was cool with it, but the House had some issues. Democrats were mostly down with it, but some Republicans were feeling it too. Cousins was mad disappointed when Youngkin dropped the veto hammer, saying it was just common sense to help families stay together.
Now they gotta try and get enough votes in both houses to override Youngkin’s veto. There’s another version of the bill in the Senate waiting for its turn too, so we’ll see how that goes down.
The bill was all about making sure that if you’re using legal substances in Virginia, it shouldn’t mess with your custody or visitation rights unless it’s really bad for the kid. The state Board of Social Services would have had to change their rules to match up with the new law too.
Cousins made sure to say that courts could still do their thing and decide what’s best for the child’s safety. Advocates were bummed about the veto but said they ain’t giving up on fighting for the change.
Chelsea Higgs Wise from Marijuana Justice said they’ve been grinding for two years trying to get this bill passed and they ain’t stopping now. JM Pedini from NORML and Virginia NORML called out Youngkin for saying this ain’t a real problem when parents are really losing their kids over weed.
There’s a bunch of other weed-related bills on deck too, waiting for Youngkin to make a move. They wanna legalize selling weed to adults, change up sentences for people locked up for old weed crimes, and stop public workers from getting screwed over for using medical marijuana.
But there’s some drama about whether Youngkin will go for the retail sales plan after a shady deal went down last week. His crew says he ain’t into legalizing weed like that, even though adults can already use it at home thanks to a law from last year. But there’s no way to buy it legit yet, so folks are hitting up underground spots instead.
Despite all this mess, Cousins and the advocates are still aiming to flip Youngkin’s veto on its head and make sure parents can blaze without losing their kids. They’re talking race issues, family rights, and how drug laws mess with folks every day. It’s a tough battle, but they ain’t backing down until they get what they want – a fair shake for weed-loving parents in Virginia.
So yeah, Governor Youngkin might not be feeling it now, but best believe these advocates ain’t giving up ’til they get what they deserve. It’s a fight for justice, family unity, and blazing up without losing your rights in the process. Let’s see how this showdown plays out in the end – stay tuned, y’all!