Tennessee Could Reduce Some Marijuana Possession Penalties
(Flickr/Phillip Dodds)
NASHVILLE, TN Penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana in Tennessee could soon be reduced to a low-level misdemeanor, punishable by only a fine without the possibility of jail time.
Two lawmakers fromNashville, both Democrats, have filed joint legislation to reduce marijuana penalties statewide in direct response to a Republican lawmakers attempt to nullify their citys recently passed ordinance that gives police officers the option to issue a citation instead of placing a marijuana user under arrest.
Senate Bill 265, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Yarbro(D-Nashville), and its companion House Bill 297, sponsored by Rep. Harold Love (D-Nashville), would reduce the statewide penalty for possessing up to one eighth of an ounce of marijuana (3.544 grams) to aClass C misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum fine of $50.
Currently,possession of up to half an ounce of marijuana is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a$250 mandatory fine for all first time convictions. A subsequent offense brings a $500 mandatory fine. Possessing over half an ounce of marijuana is a felony offense, with mandatory minimum prison sentences starting at one year and fines starting at $5,000, depending upon the total weight of marijuana an offender is caught with.
One of the bills sponsors says the proposal did not fully decriminalize marijuana to a civil violation, instead reducing it to a low level misdemeanor, was done to help make the bill easier to sell to Republicans, who control both chambers of the state legislature.
The goal is to eliminate possible jail time, and to eliminate massive ...
