NORML is pleased to announce that House Bill 1177, an act reclassifying the possession of forty grams or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a class 2 civil infraction, has been referred to the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.
If passed, this proposal would reduce the penalties on minor marijuana possession offenses from a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine to a monetary penalty of no more than $100.
Passage of HB 1177 would allow law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts to re-allocate their existing resources toward activities that will more effectively target serious criminal behavior and keep the public safe. The move would also have the added benefit of saving state taxpayers’ money. According to the fiscal note prepared by the Washington State Office of Financial Management for SB 5615, enacting HB 1177 would save state taxpayers over $16 million annually.
HB 1177 has been scheduled for a vote before the House Committee on Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on January 20th, at which time house lawmakers will vote on both HB 1177 and HB 2401 (Learn More). Please take a moment today to contact your House member and urge him or her to support H.B. 1177. (A list of bill sponsors is available here.) If your representative sits on the committee, then it is especially important that he or she hears from you. For your convenience, a pre-written letter will be e-mailed to your state representative when you enter your contact information below. You can also call the committee and leave a polite, concise message voicing your support for marijuana law reform at: (360) 786-7131 or toll free at: 1-800-562-6000. HB 1177′s companion bill, S.B. 5615, which also aims to decriminalize adult use of marijuana, passed through the state committee in 2009 on a bipartisan vote. The next step would be for it to be brought to the Sentate floor, which is likely to happen this year. Your support is integral to this bill’s success, take a moment to use the pre-written form letter to contact your state senator and tell him you support S.B. 5615 and sane marijuana laws in the state of Washington. Thank you for supporting NORML’s marijuana law reform efforts in Washington.
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We need this law changed NOW! I just got this email from the cannabis md mail list:
At this moment news crews are racing to 1830 NE 168th St in Shoreline as police raid the house of marijuana patient Mark Roger Spohn. This same patient was robbed by FBI imposters and then raided by Police in May of 2009. No charges were filed in that case, but the garden was destroyed at that time. Now the severely ill marijuana patient is losing his medical garden to a police raid once again.
Look for news at eleven.
I think that both of them should by singed. We need a better way to control, because we are out of control now.