Washington State decrim bill passes out of Senate committee

This just in from Alison Holcomb of the Washington State ACLU:

The Washington State Senate Judiciary Committee has just passed out Senate Bill 5615, which reclassifies adult possession of no more than 40 grams of marijuana from a misdemeanor crime carrying mandatory jail time to a civil infraction imposing a $100 penalty that can be paid by mail.

The video recording of the hearing (February 18 executive session, beginning at 3:30 p.m.) should be available soon at www.TVW.org. You can scroll forward to the discussion of SB 5615 by clicking on the progress bar at the bottom of the window. I encourage all of you to watch and listen. It is an important, historic opportunity to be able to hear our elected representatives engage in an open, public discussion and debate of our state’s marijuana laws and the broader “war on drugs.”

SB 5615 now goes before the Senate Rules Committee, which must take action to put the bill on the floor of the Senate for full vote.

The companion bill, House Bill 1177, was referred to the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, where it has yet to be scheduled for a public hearing. Next Wednesday, February 25, is the deadline for bills to be passed out of committee.