Welcome to the latest edition of NORML’s Weekly Legislative Roundup!
Tag: decriminalization
State lawmakers have approved a series of bills reducing penalties for marijuana possession offenses and strengthening and expanding legal protections for medical cannabis patients.
Minor marijuana possession offenders will no longer be criminally prosecuted in Hennepin County, Minnesota, according to a new policy announced Thursday by County Attorney Mike Freeman. An estimated 1.2 million people live in the County, which includes the city of Minneapolis.
Delaware prosecutors will no longer be encouraged to pursue criminal charges against those who possess marijuana for personal use, according to guidelines issued by the state’s new Attorney General, Kathleen Jennings.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker recently announced that her office will stop prosecuting most marijuana possession cases. Earlier this year St. Louis City Prosecuting Attorney, Kim Gardner, took similar action on simple possession cases of up to 100 grams.
Democrat Gov. John Carney signed legislation into law today vacating past marijuana convictions.
Democrat Gov. Gina Raimondo has signed legislation permitting those with past marijuana convictions to have their records expunged. “If an act has been decriminalized since a person was charged and paid their price for it, that person shouldn’t have to keep paying the price in the form of being denied jobs and other opportunities because of their criminal record,” bill sponsor Sen. Harold Metts said in a statement.
Even though recreational marijuana remains criminalized in a majority of US states, more and more municipalities are moving ahead with local laws decriminalizing the possession of cannabis within city limits. For the first time, NORML has released a comprehensive breakdown of these citywide and countywide decriminalization policies.