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A new law proposes to decriminalize cultivation and keep growers out of prison

By Kevin Longrie

 

Those convicted of illegal marijuana cultivation here in California, take heart. There’s a proposed law that, if passed, would make life

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A new law proposes to decriminalize cultivation and keep growers out of prison

By Kevin Longrie

 

Those convicted of illegal marijuana cultivation here in California, take heart. There’s a proposed law that, if passed, would make life a bit easier for growers.

State lawmakers are set to decide on a landmark bill, a law that could reduce needless drug enforcement expenditures and protect small or first-time offenders from the harsh punishments currently in place. Assembly Bill 1017, endorsed by Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster, would change the punishment in cases of marijuana cultivation from a mandatory felony to a “wobbler,” which means prosecutors will have the option of trying the case as a misdemeanor instead.

California growers have faced hard-line consequences when they tangled with law enforcement. NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) argues that the mandatory felony charge currently on the books is responsible for millions in unnecessary—and unnecessarily severe—prosecutions.

“It raises the cost of law enforcement,” says NORML activist Dale Gieringer. “The state spends somewhere around $3 million a year on felony marijuana cases because most marijuana offenses are a felony.”

It costs $10,000 to prosecute a felony drug case, Gieringer adds—and that’s before the cost of prison time associated with these prosecutions is factored in. If some small-scale cultivation cases could be tried as misdemeanors instead, state taxpayers would save a significant amount of time and money.

A “wobbler” option would give judges and district attorneys the discretion to decide whether to try a case as a felony or misdemeanor based on the circumstances presented at that time. Until now, existing state law has forced the hands of law enforcement, causing every case to be tried as a felony no matter how minor the infraction.

“It would lower their legal risk,” Gieringer says of growers. It would not, of course, eliminate risk altogether. The severity of the prosecution would be determined by the severity of the case, eliminating the flat-line felony standard which many activists believe to be far too severe for minor offenses. One of the selling points of AB 1017 is that, under a misdemeanor, if jail time was deemed necessary by the judge hearing the case, the defendant would spend it in county jail rather than a federal prison.

“This whole idea that growing a single marijuana plant should be a felony—when it’s a totally victimless crime—is crazy,” Gieringer adds.

NORML hopes that acknowledging that the current laws are far too stringent will lead to a more widespread acceptance of marijuana, its cultivation, and, one day, full legalization; but for now, they are satisfied with keeping more growers out of federal prisons.

“We were hoping for something a bit more expansive,” Gieringer says, “but when we learned that the district attorney of Mendocino County was willing to support this bill, we said, ‘Sure.’”

The Assembly’s Public Safety Committee approved AB 1017 by a 4-3 vote on May 3, and the bill is currently waiting to be heard in Sacramento. NORML maintains that the bill is threatened by the anti-marijuana lobby in the state, and hopes to garner support in the state’s citizens.

“[Everyone] should visit the California NORML website to send a message to their legislators to support it,” Gieringer says, “We really need the support.”

 

norml.org.

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