THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Monday, January 6, 1997 TAG: 9701060073 SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 21 lines
Initiatives in California and Arizona to allow the medical use of marijuana have set off a storm of protest - but Virginia passed a similar law in 1979.
But the law is so little-known and little-used that many law enforcement officials were unaware of its existence, as were some of the legislators who sponsored the bill.
The medicinal use of marijuana was approved by the Virginia General Assembly as part of a general loosening of the state's laws against possession and distribution of small amounts of the drug.
The exception has apparently had little, if any, legal impact.
And state health officials had no idea whether Virginia doctors have prescribed marijuana since the law was approved.