A law that many argued would help end widespread prison overcrowding in California was killed by Gov. Jerry Brown Tuesday.
Senate Bill 649 would have given state judges and district attorneys the ability to charge small possession cases as either felonies or misdemeanors, dropping prison times for personal amounts of drugs from up to three years in jail to under a year in some cases. Provisions were also included that would have increased treatment options for addicts.

Marijuana possession and cultivation penalties in Oregon have been cut in half thanks to Gov. John Kitzhaber’s signature on two bills earlier this week.
Kitzhaber Monday signed SB 40 and SB 82, which eases marijuana penalties in the state for those caught with over an ounce and eliminates a provision that suspends driver’s licenses for possession of less than one ounce.

A Louisiana bill to reduce crimes for repeat marijuana offenders and rid the state of abhorrent “three strikes” laws for possession of any amount failed to pass the state Senate yesterday.
House Bill 103 had already cleared the state House late last month, but Senate members refused to call the bill up for a vote on three separate occasions.

An amended version of a bill that would end Louisiana’s draconian three-strikes law for some marijuana crimes has finally made its way through the house.
But it could be a tight squeeze to get the bill through. The Louisiana Senate adjourns next week, leaving little time to have the bill heard, debated and voted on before the politicians leave Baton Rouge for the year.

As we reported back in March, Louisiana legislators are considering a bill that would have dropped marijuana possession from the mandatory minimum sentencing laws that help in the clogging of state prison systems.
House Bill 103 is gaining momentum, moving through committee this week and on to the House floor. The Advocate reports it was a pretty lively discussion, with several legislators pointing out the stupidity of sending people away for 20 years or more for a single joint to other, more pig-headed colleagues hell-bent on punishing pot users.

While the rest of the country is seemingly progressing forward with marijuana laws, a handful lawmakers in Indiana are moving backwards it seems. A proposal before the legislature currently would revamp the state’s criminal code could increase penalties for low-level marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to a felony.
If approved on Thursday, the bill would make possession of about one-third of an ounce up to 10 pounds a low-level felony instead of a high-level misdemeanor. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, has said he wants to be stricter on drug possession and show drug dealers that the state is not a place for them to operate.