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
  • 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
  • Voters made Oregon the first state in the nation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
    — Matthew Daly, Star Tribune, 4 Dec. 2020
  • In 2020, Oregon was the first state to legalize psilocybin and decriminalize all drugs.
    — Iris Dorbian, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022
  • Over the course of her 2024 campaign against Trump, Harris has also changed her tune on decriminalizing border crossings.
    — Emily Hallas, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 18 Sep. 2024
  • Most states have changed paraphernalia laws to decriminalize test strips, allowing users to find out whether their drugs contain fentanyl, the trade publication Governing.com reported in January.
    — Jason Clayworth, Axios, 1 Oct. 2024

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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