PROPOSED TEXAS MARIJUANA BILL COULD LESSEN POSSESSION PENALITIES

House Bill 548, which calls for reduced fines for possession of
marijuana, goes to the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in the Texas
Legislature today.

The bill would lower the penalties for possession of one ounce or less
of marijuana to a Class C Misdemeanor, reducing the fine from $2000 to
$500 and eliminating the possibility of a criminal record. However,
possession that is measured to be two ounces or less or more than one
ounce is still considered to be a Class B Misdemeanor, which calls for
a fine up to $2000 and up to 180 days in jail.

After being charged with an offense under Section 481.121 of the
Health and Safety Code, this bill would also require that the
defendant by placed on deferred adjudication to successfully complete
a drug abuse awareness and education program, as well as calls for the
court, community supervision and/or corrections department to take on
the administrative costs for the required program, which must be
approved by the Department of State Health Services.

In addition, the bill would call for justice and municipal courts to
be added to the list of courts to which persons whose licenses have
been suspended may apply for an occupational driver's license.

The bill has a lot of support from NORML Kats, the Sam Houston State
University chapter of NORML, a non-profit, lobbying organization that
works to reform marijuana laws.

"[With this bill, marijuana] will no longer leave a criminal stain on
the lives of young people," the organization said on their website.

Also on the horizon are the Tim Timmons Compassionate Care Act and the
Karen Heikkala Act.

The Timmons Act would set up a network of dispensaries to provide
safe, effective medical marijuana for critically ill patients
suffering from AIDS, cancer and other serious diseases, while the
Heikkala Act would provide an affirmative defense for legal out of
state marijuana users.