Oklahoma bill reducing marijuana criminal penalty unanimously passes House committee
Posted: 02/27/2013
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Criminal penalties for marijuana possession in Oklahoma would be reduced under a bill passed without objection by a House committee.
The House Public Safety Committee voted 14-0 on Wednesday for the bill that would make first and second offenses of marijuana possession a misdemeanor. Under current law, a second offense is a felony punishable by between two and 10 years in prison.
Stillwater Democratic Rep. Cory Williams says he would have preferred to make all marijuana possession offenses misdemeanors, but that such a proposal was unlikely to pass the committee.
Williams says it makes little sense to imprison someone or burden them with a felony conviction for simply possessing a drug that is legal in some states.
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