New prosecutors in Fairfax and Arlington Virginia announced this week that adults possessing small amounts of marijuana for personal use will no longer be prosecuted.
These actions fulfill campaign pledges by Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano and Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. Both won the election in November.
According to both prosecutors, marijuana possession prosecutions do little to protect public safety, and disproportionately fall on people of color.
“I traveled around Fairfax County for over a year listening to people,” Descano said. “The thing that came up time and time again was simple possession of marijuana — how it was a waste of resources and led to unjust outcomes.”
Dehghani-Tafti’s stated in a filing, “In a world of limited resources, it is the Commonwealth’s position that these should be directed towards more serious felony offenses, towards offenses against people and their property, and towards investment in programs that demonstrably reduce recidivism.”
