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NEW ORLEANS - The state's penalties for marijuana possession are among the harshest in the nation, but last week lawmakers passed a bill that will dramatically change that.
"This was the right thing to do. It was compassionate, it was just," said the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans.
After years of debate, lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a measure to drastically reduce the state's harsh penalties for simple marijuana possession, making it now a misdemeanor rather than a felony if caught with 14 grams or less.
"One of the great things about this bill is it breaks up weights for marijuana possession, because under the current laws that we have, it's zero to 60 pounds," said Kevin Caldwell, the executive director of the pro-marijuana group CommonSense NOLA.
Under the new law, the maximum jail time will be dropped from 20 years to just 8 years, and it is only on the third offense that it becomes a felony.
"We don't want to just put that stamp on you as a felon, because if you are a felon it's extremely difficult to get a job, provide for your family and to go to work," Badon said.
Badon said it not only reduces jail time for anyone busted with pot, but it also lowers the hefty fines that come with a conviction.
Right now offenders can be slapped with a $10,000 fine, but under the new law fines will range from $300 to $5,000. The bill also has a cleansing period, meaning if an offender is caught with marijuana two years after their first conviction, they will be charged as if it is their first offense.
"These are non-violent, non-sexual offenders," Badon said. "We were putting them in jail with hardened criminals. We were literally making better criminals out of them."
Badon said reducing the penalties will also save taxpayers up to $17 million in incarceration costs over the next five years, but he said this bill will not help anyone already behind bars serving a sentence.
More: http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/pol...ers-lessen-pot-possession-penalties/28791977/
NEW ORLEANS - The state's penalties for marijuana possession are among the harshest in the nation, but last week lawmakers passed a bill that will dramatically change that.
"This was the right thing to do. It was compassionate, it was just," said the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans.
After years of debate, lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a measure to drastically reduce the state's harsh penalties for simple marijuana possession, making it now a misdemeanor rather than a felony if caught with 14 grams or less.
"One of the great things about this bill is it breaks up weights for marijuana possession, because under the current laws that we have, it's zero to 60 pounds," said Kevin Caldwell, the executive director of the pro-marijuana group CommonSense NOLA.
Under the new law, the maximum jail time will be dropped from 20 years to just 8 years, and it is only on the third offense that it becomes a felony.
"We don't want to just put that stamp on you as a felon, because if you are a felon it's extremely difficult to get a job, provide for your family and to go to work," Badon said.
Badon said it not only reduces jail time for anyone busted with pot, but it also lowers the hefty fines that come with a conviction.
Right now offenders can be slapped with a $10,000 fine, but under the new law fines will range from $300 to $5,000. The bill also has a cleansing period, meaning if an offender is caught with marijuana two years after their first conviction, they will be charged as if it is their first offense.
"These are non-violent, non-sexual offenders," Badon said. "We were putting them in jail with hardened criminals. We were literally making better criminals out of them."
Badon said reducing the penalties will also save taxpayers up to $17 million in incarceration costs over the next five years, but he said this bill will not help anyone already behind bars serving a sentence.
More: http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/pol...ers-lessen-pot-possession-penalties/28791977/
