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House Judiciary Committee hears bill to reclassify low-level marijuana possession as noncriminal citation
Summary
A bill sponsored by Representative Liz Conmey would lower some possession thresholds and create a traffic-like citation process for the smallest amounts of marijuana and THC, seeking to reduce court and prosecutor workload; law-enforcement and public-safety groups told the committee they have concerns about deterrence and repeat offenders.
Bismarck — The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on House Bill 1596 Thursday, advancing debate on a proposal to make the lowest-level marijuana and THC possession offenses noncriminal citations and to lower the adult age for certain ingestion infractions from 21 to 18. Representative Liz Conmey, bill sponsor, told the committee the measure responds to recommendations from state's attorneys and law-enforcement officials across North Dakota who say courts and prosecutors are overwhelmed by cases involving small amounts of marijuana.
Conmey said the bill changes possession thresholds so that the smallest possession ranges (for example, less than half an ounce of marijuana and less than 2 grams of THC) would be treated as noncriminal citations payable by fine, and that juvenile…
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