How to Use decriminalize in a Sentence

decriminalize

verb

• Oregon will become the first state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs, including heroin and cocaine.
  — USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2020
• Oregon, meanwhile, voted to decriminalize possession of even hard drugs, like heroin, cocaine, and meth.
  — Andy Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune, 5 Nov. 2020
• Before street vending was decriminalized in L.A., Tunay said the city used to come and throw away all her food.
  — Angie Orellana Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2023
• Measure 110, a first-of-its-kind law in the country, decriminalized small amounts of street drugs – like heroin and methamphetamine – in Oregon.
  — Ncrombie, oregonlive, 9 June 2023
• Still, the Legislature has made no moves to decriminalize the drug over the course of Abbott’s two terms in office.
  — Cayla Harris, San Antonio Express-News, 4 Mar. 2022
• Denver was the first to decriminalize entheogens, making the move in 2019.
  — Emma Stein, Detroit Free Press, 7 Nov. 2021
• On the opinion pages Now is the time for Utah to decriminalize marijuana, writes Robert Gehrke.
  — Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 19 July 2021
• The bill is one of a number introduced recently to decriminalize and tax the drug.
  — Chelsey Cox, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2022
• In recent months, the city and state of New York have moved to decriminalize prostitution.
  — Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica, 3 May 2021
• Earlier this month the U.S. House passed a bill that would decriminalize the substance, but the measure is not expected to pass in the Senate.
  — Kaitlin Lange, The Indianapolis Star, 20 Apr. 2022
• Portugal was one of the first countries to decriminalize all drugs in Europe in 2001.
  — Dario Sabaghi, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2021
• Waldron emphasized that her bill would not decriminalize psychedelics and that no one would be treated by psychedelics if passed.
  — Anabel Sosa, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2024
• The bill to decriminalize syringes passed the House of Delegates by a veto-proof margin, but the final vote in the state Senate fell one vote shy of the veto-proof threshold.
  — Pamela Wood, baltimoresun.com, 26 May 2021
• The measure will decriminalize possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana in the city.
  — Annie Blanks, San Antonio Express-News, 8 Nov. 2022
• Voters made Oregon the first state in the nation to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
  — Aaron Morrison, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Nov. 2020
• Voters made Oregon the first state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of street drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
  — CBS News, 30 Dec. 2020
• In what’s viewed as a largely symbolic move, the U.S. House voted to decriminalize cannabis and tax it at the federal level.
  — Chicago Tribune Staff, chicagotribune.com, 4 Dec. 2020
• The House recently passed a bill to decriminalize marijuana, and another bill that would legalize the plant is in the works in the Senate.
  — Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2022
• Most notably, Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis last year, with cannabis cafes and smoke shops quickly popping up across the country.
  — Jessie Yeung, CNN, 28 Feb. 2023
• The state of California even has a measure on the 2022 ballot that would decriminalize psychedelic medicine in the state.
  — Lindsey Bartlett, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2022
• The governor of Oregon has declared an emergency in the city of Portland a few years after the state became the first in the nation to largely decriminalize drug use.
  — Adam Yamaguchi, CBS News, 31 Jan. 2024
• In January 2023, the western province became the first in Canada to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of hard drugs.
  — Dominique Soguel, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 July 2024
• West Virginia had three bills introduced in the 2021 session — two to legalize pot, and one to decriminalize it.
  — Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone, 20 Apr. 2021
• And for anyone who doesn’t happen to have a friend who knows a guy who grows mushrooms and wants to share, decriminalizing psychedelics won’t do much to expand access on its own, either.
  — Oshan Jarow, Vox, 21 July 2024
• The only one that even got a hearing would have decriminalized possession of up to two ounces of marijuana.
  — Brittany Carloni, The Indianapolis Star, 11 Jan. 2024
• This increase in calls happened just as Denver voters passed a ballot measure to become the first city to decriminalize in May 2019.
  — Rita Farah, The Conversation, 14 June 2024
• It’s been a rough year for cannabis company stocks, even as more states in the US move to legalize or decriminalize marijuana.
  — Carmen Reinicke, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2023
• Earlier this week, Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, announced his plans to become the next state to decriminalize the strips.
  — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 June 2023
• This approach became so common that Ukraine changed the law to decriminalize desertion and absence without leave, if committed for the first time.
  — Ivana Kottasová, CNN, 8 Sep. 2024
• In a landmark move in 2020 Oregon voted to decriminalize small amounts of certain drugs, including heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.
  — Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, 6 Aug. 2024

Last Updated: 9 Nov 2024