Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
alt. The act of making a previously illegal activity no longer treatable as a criminal offence. n. The act of making a previously illegal activity no longer treatable as a criminal offence.
WordNet
n. legislation that makes something legal that was formerly illegal [syn: decriminalisation] [ant: criminalization, criminalization]
Usage examples of "decriminalization".
But I do believe with the new Reagan Law-and-Order Administration, we are going to be able to pass some new and stronger anti-marijuana paraphernalia laws, even recriminalizing marijuana altogether in the states that have decriminalization laws now .
Senator Eastland of Mississippi used it throughout the mid-1970s to horrify and stop national legislators from supporting NORML's decriminalization bills in Congress, mostly sponsored by the late Senator Jacob Javitts of New York.
The end of Prohibition was a Sunday-school picnic compared to the legalization of marijuana and cocaine, and the decriminalization of other drugs.