By Victoria Wicks
A bill to reduce criminal penalties for small amounts of marijuana failed to pass through the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. Senate Bill 221 sought to make possession of less than two ounces of marijuana a class two misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of up to 30 days in jail. It now is a class one misdemeanor with a one-year jail possibility.
Proponent Emmett Reistroffer testified that other states have reduced penalties and have not seen an increase in marijuana use. And he says a lower penalty would fit into the state’s plan to redesign the criminal justice system to deemphasize addiction as a crime and to focus on violent and habitual criminals. “Narcotics have been reclassified to lesser penalties and lesser classifications as part of this comprehensive plan led by the leaders of our state to hold offenders more accountable and focus more so on those who pose a risk to the community, not just the everyday drug user who has drugs for their own use,” Reistroffer says.
He testified that the state spends $25 million a year to enforce marijuana laws, a figure that was not rebutted by law officers who oppose the bill. Opponents did rebut Reistroffer’s claim that marijuana use is not tied to the severity of the penalty. Law officers testified that marijuana dealers are often violent and carry firearms. They say marijuana is addictive, and that the state’s voters have rejected legalizing medical marijuana.