Bill would reduce marijuana penalties

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(Guillermo Arias, Associated Press)

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Published: 3/12 9:10 am

Updated: 3/12 9:12 am

AUSTIN, Texas -- We're following the 83rd Session of the state legislature, and should you ever be convicted of having a small amount of marijuana, the penalties you face could soon be going down.

Democrat Harold Dutton Jr. of Houston hopes to see jail time off the table entirely. Under his bill, anyone found guilty of possessing up to one ounce of marijuana would not be put in jail. You would just be slapped with a fine.

Right now, you can get up to 180 days in jail for the crime.

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charlie50 - 3/12/2013 2:09 PM

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@shinerboy As much as a good idea that would be. But I don't believe it will ever happen. 1 because it makes too much scents (and were talking about government making sound decisions for all of us)and 2 they would loose to much money by not prosecuting people for this petty crime.

shinerboy - 3/12/2013 11:58 AM

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Can we just legalize it, tax the cr@p out of it, install tougher DUI laws, and move on already?

charlie50 - 3/12/2013 9:43 AM

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Unless your a repeat offender you dont see jail time now .My understanding is now you get (on a first time offence ) 2 yrs probation, court fees, probation fees, community service , and maybe a 1000.00 fine.And then if you cant handle that(and you get revocated ) they will add a year to your probation.Its real simple they make money on the probation and loose money on jail time .

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