MARIJUANA BILL ALTERED, ON HOLD

A provision that would have allowed for the expungement of any felony or
misdemeanor originating from simple possession of marijuana after 1968
appeared headed for defeat Monday.

But the rest of Senate Bill 861 by Sen. John Riggs, D-Little Rock, that
would prohibit future felony convictions for possession of an ounce or less
of marijuana, remains alive.

The Senate Judiciary Committee took up the bill Monday, and Riggs said he
agreed with criticism that the section dealing with past arrests was confusing.

An amendment by the committee deleted the retroactive portion of the bill,
but the committee took no final vote.

Riggs told the committee he drafted the legislation because he believes
criminally prosecuting for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana
takes a toll on the state's prison system and strains the budgets of
prosecutors and courts.

Laura Shue of Little Rock, staff attorney for the office of the prosecutor
coordinator, said a poll of prosecuting attorneys throughout the state
found opposition to the bill. Prosecutors fear that expunging past criminal
records would burden staff and the bill is confusing as to what charges
could be expunged.

She said in an interview that the prosecuting attorneys will be polled
again if the bill is changed to apply to future arrests.

A revised bill will come before the committee Wednesday.

Glen Schwarz, president of the Arkansas chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in an interview that
he'll still support the bill even if it doesn't apply to past convictions.

He said that 8,000 people are arrested annually in Arkansas for possession
of marijuana, about 68 percent of the drug possession arrests in the state.

Shue said that Arkansas Code Annotated 5-64-401 (C) makes it a Class A
misdemeanor, punishable by up to 1 year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine, to
possess an ounce or less of marijuana. That law makes a second offense for
such possession a Class D felony, punishable by up to six years in prison
and up to a $10,000 fine. A third offense is a Class C felony, punishable
by up to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Under the bill, anybody possessing one ounce or less of marijuana would be
"guilty of a violation, punishable by a fine of not more than $200."

Schwarz said that 11 other states -- Alaska, Oregon, California, Colorado,
Nebraska, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, North Carolina, New York and Maine
- -- enacted similar legislation in the 1970s.