Currently this bill holds my freedom in its hands. Hanover circuit court has chosen to ignore the new legislation entirely with respect to my charges, which were obtained solely thru the use of "marijuana odor" for cause to search only a month before legalization went into effect, choosing to hear a case out of Texas as more relevant than over 90 cases dismissed by the commonwealth at the date of my trial in other counties relating to marijuana possession. This legislation will formally establish the language of retroactivity, which Hanover has chosen to deny as the intent of this bill without this specificity. Without retroactivity stated literally in the bill, biased and prejudiced courts like Hanover are choosing to ignore all legislation established to repeal marijuana criminality in order to obtain severe criminal convictions. I was forced into a conditionally guilty plea and I am currently on pre-trial, and awaiting sentencing set for 3/7/22. Being on trial for nearly 2 years for this, and having these pending charges on my record has all but collapsed my otherwise extremely successful, nearly unrivaled for the 5 years prior, IT consulting and computer repair business founded almost 8 years ago. Due to the pending charges showing on my record my account was barred from service with Thumbtack Inc., which was my only source for new client leads since 2019. Additionally, Home Advisor/Angie's is another leads service I intended to reopen with last year, only to be denied based on these pending marijuana charges as well. I am a prime example of what this system has done to destroy the lives of individuals' who have known Marijuana to be their medicine prior to legalization. PLEASE PASS SB105!

Currently I am still being prosecuted by Hanover Circuit Courts for PWID Marijuana via the very reason for SB5029, Marijuana odor as sole cause to search. The officer even specified twice "burnt" marijuana odor, but never found evidence of any smoked marijuana even after violating my rights citing this as the reason. This happened weeks before legalization went into effect, and was not resolved before SB5029 went into effect. Despite all of this, Hanover chose to hear a case cited by the prosecution OUT OF TEXAS as a legitimate reason to ignore the new legislation even up against over 90 cases cited by my attorney that had been tried and dismissed. I have already paid a heavy price to the commonwealth for marijuana possession, which forced me to completely start over in my adult life, career path, moving back in at home. I found my calling in that time and started my own IT consulting and computer repair business. In that I have received such commendations as: #1 top rated technician with Home Advisor for 4 years, top rated technician with Thumbtack, both are leads services that connect me with individuals and small businesses needing my expertise. ADDITIONALLY, both of those services have frozen my accounts with them despite my service record at the beginning of 2021 simply because they could see these pending charges out of Hanover that I wasn't even convicted of yet. Since this has happened my business has slowed down as I am not getting new clients. Thus, I've been surviving off of my existing loyal clientele base which is nearly exhausted to the point where I may have to close my business and find contract jobs that wont background check. If you pass SB105 it will close the loophole Hanover is literally exploiting to convict and continue to destroy my life and opportunities for charges against me that are no longer considered criminal or jailable. Please for my sake and the sake of everyone at the mercy of injustice by prejudiced court bias, SHARE MY STORY AND PASS SB105

I am following this Bill very closely because I have been convicted of a misdemeanor. Ever since my conviction I’ve regretted it and have done many things to prove myself as a good person that cares about his future. Since, I have gotten my EMT-B, completed 2 medical Mission trips, obtained my bachelors degree, and became a certified Paramedic through the state and nation. SB 564 being passed will allow me and others like me to move forward and not be punished the rest of their lives for a mistake they made in the past. I hope my story and people with stories like mine are taken into consideration when voting on the bill. Thank you.