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VOL. 71, NO. 3 SEPTEMBER 3, 2025 THE INDEPENDENT PRESS OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
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‘Who owns the power?’: Richmond workers protest on Labor Day MOLLY MANNING News Editor
HECIEL NIEVES BONILLA Assistant News Editor Roughly 2,000 people turned out to Monroe Park on Labor Day for a “Workers Over Billionaires” rally and march to call for class solidarity and greater worker power in the face of attacks by the Trump administration. The protest was organized by 50501 Virginia, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and other local partners centered around stopping the “billionaire takeover” and President Donald Trump’s “anti-worker” agenda. 50501 — the group responsible for over 10,000 people marching on the state Capitol in June — held 19 Labor Day protests across the Commonwealth and thousands nationwide.
Demonstrators march in Stuart Circle on Sept. 1 for an anti-Trump, pro-worker Labor Day protest. Photo by Burke Loftus. A series of community leaders and organizers spoke to the crowd in front of a banner that read “workers first, eat the rich,” including American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer. Bauer said in a speech that the Trump administration has an end goal of
autocracy, and his recent deployment of the National Guard in Washington is dangerous and unwarranted. “This administration’s actions serve one primary goal, to scare people into silence,” Bauer said. “But look around, we’re not silent.”
Throughout a march down Broad Street, protestors echoed chants such as “the people united will never be defeated” and “this is what a democracy looks like,” while carrying signs with phrases like “why is PROTEST Continued on page 2
Election 2025: Weed is on the ballot this November YENNI JIMENEZ ACOSTA Contributing Writer Over half of all Virginians have used marijuana, but there is currently no way to obtain the drug recreationally in the Commonwealth — but the General Assembly is considering the introduction of a legal market, and its approval hinges on the 2025 gubernatorial race. A bipartisan commission convened at the Capitol on Aug. 20 for a second time to hear testimonies on the potential benefits
of establishing a cannabis retail market in Virginia. The commission, created through House Joint Resolution 497, was created to “oversee the transition of the Commonwealth into a retail cannabis market” and can operate until Jul. 1, 2028. Although cannabis was decriminalized in 2020 and legalized in 2021, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vetoed proposals year after year to advance a retail market. Currently, marijuana is classified as a schedule 1 drug — which have high
potential for abuse and no accepted medical use — along with heroin and LSD, according to the D r ug Enforcement Administration. Virginia was one of the first southern states to adopt recreational marijuana legislation, however the policies in place are very restrictive, according to VCU associate professor of criminal justice Christinia Mancini. Virginia law permits “adult sharing” for those 21 years and older — private transfer of one ounce or less of cannabis, but does not allow for the purchase of marijuana in any form without a medical card, Mancini stated. Police departments for different counties also have different enforcement policies, according to Mancini. Some residents find the law to be confusing to understand. “I feel like legislators can simplify the legislation a bit, ‘cause it can be a bit difficult to understand what exactly I can and cannot do,” second-year graphic design student Alyse Few said. “Honestly, it’s kind of one of those things where people will find a way to do it if they really want to.” Former 7th District Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate for governor, supports the creation of a legal retail market, citing the prospective revenue as an opportunity to invest in communities.
Display window of a Richmond vape shop. Photo by Cameron Powell.
WEED Continued on page 3
The entrance of the VCU Medical Center Main Hospital. Photo by Jonda Stephens.
New inpatient tower would relieve crowded hospitals, MCV workers say HECIEL NIEVES BONILLA Assistant News Editor VCU has submitted a proposal for a new inpatient care building on the corner of Leigh Street and North 12 Street. The tower would provide over 500 hospital beds as major hospital systems in the region cope with crowding and increasing populations. VCU Medical Center often operates at 90% capacity or greater, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. HOSPITALS Continued on page 3
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