RICHMOND — A Republican delegate from Gloucester is proposing legislation to expunge the records of people who are one-time offenders convicted of marijuana possession.

Under Del. Harvey Morgan's plan, law enforcement officers will still have the conviction on file but employers will not find the conviction on the employee's record when they conduct a background check.

This bill expands on the Virginia Code that allows first-time offenders to complete a drug treatment program and have the charges dismissed. Under current law, the dismissal remains on a person's record. Morgan's legislation would expunge all information regarding the incident if the person does not commit the same offense for a period of 10 years.

Morgan cited the stigma that is placed on people who have a drug conviction on their record.

"No matter how much time goes by," he said, "that offense will always be on that person's record. The stigma is impossible to live with."

Last week, SAFER, a Colorado-based medical marijuana advocacy group, called for a national boycott of Starbucks after the coffee roaster's logo showed up on website of a group that opposes drug reforms.

Not much is known about the Colorado Drug Investigators Association (CDIA). Especially since its website has since been disabled. But what we do know is that CDIA is a non-profit whose board is filled with members of drug task forces. And, according to SAFER head Mason Tvert, it's also lobbying to bring about the demise of Colorado's medical marijuana laws.

(Also reported in The Durango Herald and the Aspen Daily News)

Today, Mason Tvert, founder of SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation), called for a boycott of Starbucks, saying the coffee chain supported the Colorado Drug Investigators Association, a lobbying group that has opposed to medical marijuana.

The CDIA, which listed Starbucks as a sponsor on its website alongside such vendors as Glock handguns and Point Blank Body Armor, is a group that is seeking to overturn Colorado's constitutional amendment allowing cannabis for medical use.

...alleged sponsor of group backing restrictive medical marijuana laws

Hardly a day goes by without Mason Tvert, head of SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation), going after some individual or institution standing in the way of legalizing marijuana use for adults in Colorado and beyond. Still, his latest target is a surprise: Starbucks, the ubiquitous peddler of a highly addictive substance -- coffee.

Why? According to a manifesto on SAFER's website, "The Colorado Drug Investigators Association (CDIA), the group spearheading anti-marijuana lobbying efforts, is sponsored by several local and national businesses including Starbucks Coffee, Glock handguns, and -- you guessed it -- members of the alcohol industry!"