Lawmakers in Louisiana are considering a bill that could put minors behind bars for possessing even small amounts of pot, less than a year after the state enacted legislation to end jail time for low-level cannabis possession convictions. The measure, House Bill 700, was introduced in the Louisiana House of Representatives by Republican state Representative Larry Bagley on March 4 and approved by a legislative committee last week.
Last year, the Louisiana legislature passed House Bill 652, a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis. The bill was passed in June and went into effect in August, ending the possibility of jail time for possessing less than 14 grams of weed. The legislation was hailed by cannabis reform advocates including Peter Robins-Brown, policy and advocacy director at Louisiana Progress, a partnership between the Coalition for Louisiana Progress and Louisiana Progress Action Fund.
“Marijuana decriminalization will truly make a difference in the lives of the people of our state,” Robins-Brown said after the decriminalization bill was passed last year. “It’s an important first step in modernizing marijuana policy in Louisiana, and it’s another milestone in the ongoing effort to address our incarceration crisis, which has trapped so many people in a cycle of poverty and prison. Now it’s time to make sure that everyone knows their rights under this new law, and that law enforcement officers understand how to properly implement it.”
But now some of that progress is in jeopardy from Bagley’s bill, which would once again put jail time on the table for minors caught possessing small amounts of cannabis. The legislation would amend Louisiana’s decriminalization bill to resurrect jail time as a possible sentence for weed possession by young people, but would not affect