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A key Louisiana Senate committee has approved a House-passed bill to streamline expungements for people with first-time marijuana possession convictions.<\/p>\n
About a week after the House passed the legislation from Rep. Delisha Boyd (D), the Senate Judiciary C Committee advanced it with a favorable report in a voice vote on Wednesday, sending it to the floor before potentially being sent to the governor\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n
The measure makes it so people who are convicted of possessing up to 14 grams of cannabis as a first offense can petition the courts to wipe their record after 90 days from the time of the conviction.<\/p>\n
That would significantly speed up the timeline for relief, as current law maintains that people must wait at least five years before petitioning for expungement of certain records.<\/p>\n
Boyd told senators at the committee meeting that her legislation is focused on \u201creducing the fees as well as streamlining the process\u201d for people seeking cannabis expungements and that she has worked with stakeholders such as district attorneys and sheriffs on crafting the bill\u2019s language.<\/p>\n
Watch the Senate committee discuss the cannabis expungements proposal, starting at 2:00:23 into the video below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The\u00a0bill<\/a> was previously amended in a House committee to specify that eligible misdemeanor marijuana possession cases cannot involve more than 14 grams. An original provision was also removed that would have waived court processing fees for first-time cannabis expungements.<\/p>\n Now the measure sets a $300 cap on fees for the record clearing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe clerk shall immediately direct the collected processing fees provided\u2026to the sheriff and the district attorney, and the processing fee amount shall be remitted immediately upon receipt in equal proportions to the office of the district attorney and the sheriff\u2019s general fund,\u201d the bill text says.<\/p>\n Further, the legislation includes a template for a motion to expunge that people can fill out and submit to the court of jurisdiction.<\/p>\n \u201cExpungements are a critical part of rectifying the harms of cannabis prohibition,\u201d Kevin Caldwell, a legislative manager at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), told Marijuana Moment. \u201cThe inequitable enforcement of prohibition has unfairly targeted people of color and the poor. This is a huge step forward for cannabis policy reform in Louisiana.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWithout an expungement, a person arrested for cannabis possession can lose the ability to get student loans, housing and employment opportunities and professional licenses,\u201d he added. \u201cThis legislation will give first-time offenders an opportunity for a better life. We are glad to see such strong bipartisan support for this legislation, even from organizations that have traditionally been opposed to cannabis policy reform. We certainly hope that the support continues to the Senate floor and makes it to the desk of Gov. John Bel Edwards.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 While\u00a0marijuana legalization has stalled in the Louisiana legislature<\/a>, lawmakers have taken several steps to reform cannabis laws and build on the state\u2019s medical marijuana program in recent sessions.<\/p>\n For example, a bill recently cleared a House committee that would ensure that\u00a0people remain eligible for unemployment benefits<\/a>\u00a0if they\u2019re registered medical cannabis patients.<\/p>\n Legislators\u00a0separately defeated a measure in committee<\/a>\u00a0that would have repealed a rarely used tax on illegal marijuana sales.<\/p>\n A Louisiana legislative task force approved rules late last year providing\u00a0worker protections for medical cannabis patients<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also, regulators last year decided to temporarily continue to allow doctors to\u00a0issue medical marijuana recommendations via telemedicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last session, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D)\u00a0signed a slew of marijuana reform bills<\/a>, including one key measure that would expand the number of medical dispensaries that can operate in the state and another to prevent police from searching people\u2019s homes over the smell of cannabis.<\/p>\n Nearly six in ten Louisiana voters support legalizing marijuana,\u00a0according to a poll from the University of New Orleans<\/a>\u00a0that was released last year.<\/p>\n While legalization has yet to be enacted in the Pelican State, Edwards did\u00a0sign a bill in 2021 to decriminalize possession<\/a>\u00a0of up to 14 grams of cannabis by making it punishable by a $100 fine without jail time.<\/p>\n Edwards\u00a0also signed a bill in 2021<\/a>\u00a0to allow patients in the state\u2019s medical cannabis program legally to smoke whole-plant marijuana flower.<\/p>\n The governor also previously said that he does think that\u00a0Louisiana will inevitably legalize cannabis for adult use<\/a>\u00a0at some point, but he doesn\u2019t believe it will happen before his term expires in 2024.<\/p>\n GOP Kentucky Attorney General Launches Psychedelics Research Effort Supported By $42 Million In Opioid Settlement Funds<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Louisiana Senators Approve House-Passed Marijuana Expungements Bill In Committee<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A key Louisiana Senate committee has approved a House-passed bill to streamline expungements for people with first-time marijuana possession convictions. About a week after the House passed the legislation from Rep. Delisha Boyd (D), the Senate Judiciary C Committee advanced it with a favorable report in a voice vote onContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":65512,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65511"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65513,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65511\/revisions\/65513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n<\/div>\n\n
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\nRead More: Louisiana Senators Approve House-Passed Marijuana Expungements Bill In Committee<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"