House, senate bills eye easing marijuana penalties

AP

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

By Greg Garrison  

Separate but similar bills in both the Alabama House and the Senate are proposing easing penalties on marijuana possession.

Rep. Laura Hall is sponsoring House Bill 96, and Sen. Bobby Singleton is sponsoring Senate Bill 98.

Both bills propose reclassifying the penalties for marijuana possession, downgrading felonies to misdemeanors punishable only by fines.

SB 98 would revise the crime of unlawful possession of marijuana in the first degree to require possession of two or more ounces of marijuana. It would create the crime of possession in the third degree for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. A first or second offense of unlawful possession of marijuana in the third degree would be punishable by a fine of $250 or less. A third offense of third-degree marijuana possession would be punishable only by a fine not to exceed $500.

Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, which worked on an extensive report last year on excessive penalties and imprisonment for marijuana that disproportionately affect blacks, has been advocating reclassification of marijuana.

The bills, dealing with personal possession of marijuana only, are essentially the same as two bills that never got a vote on the floor of the Legislature last year.

“What we know needs to happen in Alabama is decriminalization,” said Carla Crowder, executive director of Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice. “These bills would be a great step in that direction. The collateral consequences of even a minor marijuana arrest can be devastating for some communities.”

Crowder said law enforcement agencies also see the growing need for more reasonable laws on marijuana.

“This is important to local law enforcement officials,” Crowder said. “They’re tired of their resources going to really minor offenses, in the face of much more serious crimes they’d like to focus on. We’re encouraged by what we’re hearing locally and we’re hoping that our state lawmakers will be paying attention to the data that shows the waste of resources and the harm that it causes.”

Ten states and the District of Columbia now have legalized recreational marijuana.

“We’re talking about a substance that’s legal in states where half of the population of the country lives,” Crowder said. “Alabama is spending $22 million a year in enforcement on it. Other states are making money; Alabama is wasting money.”

There is also a bill in the Legislature proposing legalizing medical marijuana through the use of cannabis medical cards.

“That is not the step we need,” Crowder said. “The decriminalization would be more important. 

I think that should be a higher priority. We don’t want to stop with medical.”

The Legislature goes back in session next week.