How to Use decriminalize in a Sentence

decriminalize

verb
Definition of decriminalizenext
Synonyms for decriminalizenext
  • 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
  • The bill is one of a number introduced recently to decriminalize and tax the drug.
    — Chelsey Cox, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2022
  • 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
  • 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 measure will decriminalize possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana in the city.
    — Annie Blanks, San Antonio Express-News, 8 Nov. 2022
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • In 2020, Oregon was the first state to legalize psilocybin and decriminalize all drugs.
    — Iris Dorbian, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022
  • Then in 2021, a movement to decriminalize cruising began to take root in National City.
    — Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 14 Nov. 2023
  • Last year Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis following years of campaigning by activists on the ground.
    — Heather Chen, CNN, 25 Apr. 2023
  • Thailand has become the first Asian country to decriminalize non-recreational use of cannabis.
    — Naazneen Karmali, Forbes, 6 July 2022
  • On Thursday, Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize the use of marijuana and hemp.
    — Tristan Bove, Fortune, 9 June 2022
  • As overdose deaths from opioids continue to rise in the United States, more states are moving to decriminalize test strips used to detect fentanyl in drug supplies.
    — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 June 2023
  • Voters in Colorado approved a measure last year to decriminalize psilocybin and to set the state on the path to a legal therapeutic market.
    — Mike Baker, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2023
  • Colombia was one of the first countries in the world to decriminalize euthanasia; its constitutional court recognized the right in 1997.
    — Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2022
  • But the Florida legislature balked this year at a bill that would decriminalize the testing strips.
    — Andy Miller, ajc, 6 May 2022
  • Thailand on Thursday became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis – but tough penalties will still apply to those who use the drug to get high, according to the minister who spearheaded the change.
    — Heather Chen, CNN, 9 June 2022
  • The measure, which voters approved in November 2020, decriminalized small amounts of street drugs such as methamphetamine and heroin.
    — oregonlive, 16 May 2023
  • The council decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis in May 2021, making the reservation the only place in the state to legally carry marijuana.
    — Graham Lee Brewer, NBC News, 6 Sep. 2023
  • Idaho is one of just four states yet to even decriminalize marijuana, along with Wyoming, Kansas and South Carolina.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 22 Feb. 2024
  • During his campaign, Biden pledged to decriminalize the drug, reports CNN.
    — Devika Rao, The Week, 6 Oct. 2022
  • The state had been on the brink of decriminalizing possession of drugs like meth or fentanyl statewide as a temporary law that made possession a misdemeanor was set to expire this summer.
    — Taylor Romine, CNN, 17 May 2023
  • Oregon was the first state to decriminalize marijuana possession and one of the first to legalize its recreational use.
    — CBS News, 16 Sep. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'decriminalize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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