How to Use decriminalize in a Sentence

decriminalize

verb
  • Utah could decriminalize polygamy for the first time in 85 years.
    — Talal Ansari, WSJ, 20 Feb. 2020
  • This infraction wouldn’t be a crime and so would decriminalize fireworks use at a low level.
    — Audrey McAvoy, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2025
  • 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 vote would have been the first measure to decriminalize marijuana to have come up on the House floor.
    — Madeleine Ngo, WSJ, 17 Sep. 2020
  • The voting age will be sixteen, opioids will be decriminalized, and every cop will wear a camera.
    — Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 18 July 2019
  • The bill is one of a number introduced recently to decriminalize and tax the drug.
    — Chelsey Cox, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2022
  • 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
  • In recent months, the city and state of New York have moved to decriminalize prostitution.
    — Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica, 3 May 2021
  • 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 group that opposed a ballot question that would have decriminalized psychedelics for mental health treatments got the most bang for their buck, campaign finance records show.
    — Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald, 13 Feb. 2025
  • 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 government may choose to decriminalize not paying the license fee as soon as 2022.
    — Hadas Gold, CNN, 5 June 2020
  • Denver was the first to decriminalize entheogens, making the move in 2019.
    — Emma Stein, Detroit Free Press, 7 Nov. 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
  • Cannabis consumption has become more widespread since more countries have legalized or decriminalized its use.
    — New Atlas, 10 Sep. 2025
  • 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
  • Portugal was one of the first countries to decriminalize all drugs in Europe in 2001.
    — Dario Sabaghi, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2021
  • The other bill would decriminalize the substance, removing the current legal penalties that exist for anyone caught with some.
    — Esme Murphy, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2026
  • 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
  • Marijuana is decriminalized or legal in some form in multiple states.
    — October 14, NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
  • 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
  • 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 city decriminalized the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana in 2014.
    — Sam Wood, Philly.com, 11 Apr. 2018
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • If passed, the Dallas Freedom Act would decriminalize possession of less than four ounces of cannabis by adults aged 21 and older.
    — A.j. Herrington, Forbes, 14 Oct. 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
  • The Florida Legislature also passed a bill this year that decriminalized xylazine test strips.
    — Ana Goñi-Lessan, Miami Herald, 14 May 2026
  • 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

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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