The Louisiana House of Representatives recently passed a bill to improve the state’s program to erase cannabis possession convictions. Representative Delisha Boyd sponsored the bill, which passed by a vote of 69 to 30. “House Bill 286 is a request to reduce the first marijuana deletion fee. Boyd said in a statement he heard On May 23rd.
The Louisiana House Democratic Caucus recently posted on their website Social media About passing the bill too. “This bill was passed by the House of Representatives today and it will make it easier for people to get the post-conviction relief and justice they need and deserve. #leg #LaGov. “
the invoice It was amended by House MPs, including the adoption of the proposed law that would apply only to 14 grams or less, and also stipulated that fees would be capped at $300 for those convicted of misdemeanor possession of cannabis.
According to the bill, these fees will be immediately distributed to the appropriate channels. “The clerk shall promptly charge the processing fee collected in advance… to the Mayor and the Attorney General, and the amount of the processing fee immediately after its receipt shall be transferred in equal proportions to the Attorney General’s Office and the Public Money of the Mayor,” the bill states.
HB-286 is currently going through the Senate. On May 24, it was read by title and placed in the almanac for a second reading, followed by a second reading on May 25 and referral to Judiciary Committee c.
Another Louisiana bill passed in committee on May 23. According to Rep. Mandy Landry, House Bill 351 Through the Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations, which is notorious for making it difficult to pass bills. “Nothing takes it out of commission here,” Landry said, according Fox 8. “Not a minimum wage, not a job protection… It’s really hard.” The bill seeks to protect employees with medical cannabis cards by providing them with unemployment benefits if they are fired due to a positive cannabis test.
HB-351 passed by a vote of 6-5, but the opposition has expressed concern about employers’ liability if an employee is under the influence of cannabis while on the clock. One member said the bill was not the right solution, arguing that it should be “very vetted over a good amount of time”.
Landry responded that a solution was needed now. Medical marijuana is legal. Landry said. “Everyone has the right to question their employers or the state and say, ‘Why would I lose my job because I used something legal?'” “This is a problem created by the state.”
In April, two Sens. Stewart Cathy and Sen. Jay Morris claimed they were misled when they voted to approve Senate Bill 219. “In the last session, we inadvertently created a recreational market for THC in Louisiana,” he said. He said a lot. “The legislature was not intended to authorize a statewide flood of the unregulated THC psychoactive drug market.”
“If we want to legitimize [recreational THC]It must be done openly and honestly, which has not been done,” Morris explained. “It was sold to the legislature as if we don’t allow psychoactive substances.” HB-351 has not moved forward since Cathy and Morris made these statements.
The decriminalization of cannabis in Louisiana went into effect along with 250 other laws in August 2021. Director of Policy and Advocacy for Louisiana Progress, Peter Robins Brown He explained his hope for the future. “Decriminalizing marijuana will make a real difference to the lives of people in our state,” said Robbins-Brown. “It is an important first step in modernizing marijuana policy in Louisiana, and it is another milestone in the ongoing effort to address the prison crisis, which has trapped so many people in a cycle of poverty and incarceration. Now is the time to make sure that everyone knows their rights under this new law, and that law enforcement officers Law enforcement understand how to properly implement it.”
