Photo by Sean Keenan | The Signal
If State Sen. Harold Jones, D-Augusta, has things his way, getting busted for pot might not land you behind bars.
Punishment for marijuana possession could shift from a felony to a misdemeanor with the passage of Senate Bill 254 (SB 254). Jones introduced SB 254 which seeks to remove the weed weight requirement and insert language so that all possession cases are misdemeanors.
Currently, getting caught in possession of any amount over an ounce of marijuana in Georgia will result in a felony charge, with one to ten years in jail and a maximum fine of $5,000, according to NORML, an organization working to reform marijuana laws.
With a felony on record, Georgians are ineligible for welfare benefits, the HOPE scholarship, professional licenses — think doctors and lawyers — voting rights and, sometimes, college.
Jones said SB 254 frees citizens from incarceration that goes further than just time spent in the penitentiary.
“What this bill does is bring people out of social and economic prison,” Jones said. “This is not criminal justice reform, it’s human rights reform.”
At a Jan. 20 press conference Tom McCain, a retired chief deputy of Johnson County, said his career as a cop opened his eyes to the scathing impact a possession charge can carry.
“During my law enforcement career, I saw too many young lives ruined over quantities of marijuana of 1-4 ounces. I always found it to be disproportionate, unfair and unjust,” he said.
But Danielle Keane, political director of Peachtree NORML, said the best approach to curb marijuana-related crimes is to decriminalize the drug altogether.
“The most important outcome of the legislation would be no longer saddling marijuana possession offenders, many of them young people and minorities, with felony criminal records,” she said.
Cue State Rep. LaDawn Jones, D-Atlanta with House Bill 1046 (HB 1046), legislation which would decriminalize marijuana possession and eliminate arrests for possession of an ounce or less in Georgia.
Instead of arrests, offenders would face fines as well as possible clinical evaluations and substance abuse treatment programs.
A Georgia State student who smokes marijuana recreationally and wished to remain anonymous told The Signal she believes Georgia’s laws should be similar to other states who have eased up on punishment for marijuana possession.
“I shouldn’t be deemed a criminal in one state for something I can do without negative legal repercussions in another state,” she said. “The bill just makes sense.”
