Earlier this week, a new bill sponsored by Alderwoman Megan Green, has been proposed to permit the growth, sale, and use of marijuana in St. Louis. The main goal of the bill is to make valuable time more available for law enforcement officials for actual victims of crimes, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
It would be illegal for St. Louis to enforce laws allowing “the civil or criminal punishment for the use or possession of marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia against any individual or entity” with the new bill. Yet, there are penalties for instances such as using or selling marijuana under the age of 21 and consumption will likely be restricted to private residential property.
Missouri and St. Louis don’t see eye to eye on marijuana usage. Missouri has yet to decriminalize marijuana in the state, not even for use for medicinal purposes. Recently, minor changes have been made to the states marijuana regulations in terms of possession. Jail time has been excluded for first time offenders that were convicted of possessing less than 10 grams of weed.
The Board of Aldermen had passed a similar law that lessened penalties for those caught with minute amounts of marijuana back in 2013. “I think this is a good step for the city of St. Louis,” Alderman Shane Cohn stated at that time. “It doesn’t legalize marijuana, but it gives fairness.”
The current law imposes a fine anywhere from $100 to $500 for a small possession. It provides officers an option to order court summons for first and second time offenders that possess less than 35 grams of weed, reducing criminal cases. Prior to this a first-time offender that was caught with up to 35 grams was charged with a misdemeanor followed by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
If passed, Megan Green’s proposed bill will replace Cohn’s current law.
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