Search Results: reduce penalties (78)

Photo: Lash & Associates Publishing

​A Pennsylvania legislator intends to introduce a bill which would double penalties for first-time marijuana possession in the Keystone State.

Rep. Dick Hess, a Republican, wants to double penalties for first-time possession convictions for all Schedule I and Schedule II drugs, reports Derek Rosenzweig at Philly NORML. Marijuana is classed as a Schedule I drug, so the penalty for first-time pot possession would at one fell swoop go up from one year in jail and a $5,000 fine to two years and $10,000. For subsequent convictions it rises to three years and $25,000.
This backwards bill would also increase penalties for possession, distribution and manufacturing of “drug paraphernalia,” whatever the hell that is, to two years and $5,000 for the first offense. A second offense brings three years and $10,000 in fines.

The Liberator Today

​Californians have a chance to make two strides for human rights in the coming weeks. Two important bills before the Legislature must be voted on this month: SB 129 would grant employment rights to medical marijuana patients, and AB 1017 would reduce penalties for marijuana cultivation.

The Legislature will be voting on the bills in the next two weeks (between January 19 and 31). Both bills fell short of passage last legislative session, and both are in critical need of support fro constituents in key districts.

“We are urging supporters in key districts to contact their legislators ASAP!” said Deputy Director Ellen Komp of California NORML.

Graphic: Simple Cannabis

​A legislator in Texas has introduced a bill which would reduce penalties for the possession of marijuana.

House Bill 548 [PDF], introduced by Rep. Harold Dutton Jr (D-Houston), would reclassify possession of less than an ounce of marijuana from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class C misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a $500 fine, reports My Fox Austin.
Possession of two ounces or less, but more than one ounce would remain a Class B misdemeanor.
Currently, possession of up to two ounces of marijuana is a Class B misdemeanor in Texas, with a maximum penalty of six months in jail and/or a $2,000 fine.

Washington D.C.


Washington D.C. adults (and minors) packing up to an ounce of weed on them can breathe a little easier today walking around town, as decriminalization laws went into effect that makes having ounce or less a civil infraction with a fine of $25.
That is a huge improvement from how things were yesterday, when those same residents were facing misdemeanor charges, six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Boston Public Library Flickr edited by Toke of the Town.


As we reported back in June, Maryland state Rep. Andy Harris, a Republican, is spearheading a move that would block the decriminalization of limited amounts of marijuana in Washington D.C.
But many, including D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray see it as a shot to D.C.’s home rule and Democrat-controlled city council. Now Gray is urging all D.C. residents to boycott Maryland’s beaches and resort towns.


The U.S. House of Representatives is standing in the way of Washington D.C.’s marijuana decriminalization laws, refusing to authorize funding for the law change.
Despite that, Mayor Vincent Gray says the city will still move forward with the change, which makes the possession of about an ounce of pot a civil infraction punishable by a $25 fine. But Gray also warns that House Republicans could possibly shut down the city’s medical marijuana program as well.

Marijuana advocates were abuzz last month — and by “abuzz” we mean excited, of course — when a bill to reduce penalties for marijuana possession was passed out the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. The bill had been watered down to apply only to people younger than 21, but the Texas chapter of NORML, the national pot-legalization organization, still called it an “amazing step for Texas.”
Also encouraging was progress on a medical marijuana bill that would make medical need a valid defense in pot possession cases. The measure, some version of which has been introduced in the past several sessions, got a hearing for the first time ever. Both those bills — the only pro-marijuana legislation to get any sort of traction this session — are now officially dead, which isn’t to say that marijuana activists are admitting defeat. Dallas Observer has more.

Marijuana possession would not be included in Louisiana’s draconian mandatory minimum sentencing laws if a bill introduced earlier this week manages to find approval in the state legislature.
State Rep. Austin Badon, a democrat from New Orleans, introduced House Bill 103 on Tuesday which in addition to removing marijuana possession a qualifying offense for the state’s three strikes law.

indybay.org

​The California Legislature will soon be voting on two marijuana reform bills that seem to be more popular with the public than with the politicians in Sacramento: SB 129 by Sen. Mark Leno, which would prohibit employment discrimination against medical marijuana patients, and AB 1017 by Rep. Tom Ammiano, which would allow for reduced, misdemeanor charges in marijuana cultivation cases.
Both bills have strong public support according to a newly released poll of state voters by EMC Research [PDF]. However, both have had trouble getting through the Legislature, where they must be approved by January 31 in order to stay alive.
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