In national politics, a bipartisan consensus is emerging around marijuana. All of the top 2020 Democratic presidential candidates advocate for state-control of the drug, and James Carroll, President Trump’s drug czar, openly agrees with them.

Any such legalization at the federal level would not change much for West Virginians. State legislators have shown no appetite for any major changes in marijuana policy beyond the 2017 Medical Cannabis Act. In the three years since the law passed, no one has yet received a prescription for the drug, and when the program is finally up and running, it will only provide very limited forms of marijuana to patients with very serious illnesses.

But over the past year, several West Virginia cities have attempted to sidestep the state government by drastically reducing penalties within their city limits.

In the tiny town of Salem, marijuana activists gathered enough signatures to get a “zero-fine, zero-jail-time” ordinance on the city’s election ballot, only to have it removed by city officials at the last minute. After a fight in court, a federal judge ordered the proposal back on the ballot.

Salem voted against depenalizing marijuana on election day, but the win in federal court likely secures the right of over 100 West Virginia charter cities to drastically reduce penalties within their borders.

Morgantown City Council just passed an ordinance that reduces charges for simple possession to a $15 fine, no jail time. But Police Chief Ed Preston told the council that no drug offenses are even charged through the city code, so any changes to it are irrelevant. He says that even though the ordinance gives his officers the option of charging through city code, they will not be doing so, making the ordinance symbolic at best. (Officers with the State Police, WVU Police and Monongalia Sheriff’s Office never charge under city code, so protocol will not change for those agencies either.)

When Chief Preston was asked about language that would require city police to charge through the municipal court system (instead of the county) — thus ensuring all offenders received a $15 fine — he threatened to leave the force.

“I’m telling you right now, I don’t throw ultimatums, and I’ve never thrown an ultimatum before, but if you do that, I will quit,” Preston told the council.

In passing the ordinance, city council members said that while it made almost no practical change, they hoped it would at least serve as a signal to the state legislature that attitudes about marijuana are shifting in West Virginia. Chief Preston suggested that if the goal was to send a message, council could have eliminated all drug laws from the city code — a move which also would have had no practical effect.

You can hear all the details you need to know about the landmark legal case in Salem and the Morgantown depenalization ordinance on the latest episode of Almost Heaven: Stories From West Virginia.