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House makes smoking marijuana in vehicles with minors a misdemeanor, adds education and mandatory reporting
Summary
The House passed HB72 to make smoking marijuana in a vehicle with a child present a Class A misdemeanor, require an education course developed by the Department of Public Health and mandate reports to the Department of Human Resources; supporters cited educators' complaints while opponents warned of criminalization and unintended consequences.
The Alabama House approved House Bill 72, which creates a new criminal penalty for smoking marijuana in a motor vehicle while a child is present and requires an education component and mandatory reporting to child‑welfare authorities.
Representative Sellers, sponsor of the bill, told members that the measure responds to reports from educators that children arrive at school reeking of marijuana and noted potential health and developmental risks from secondhand exposure. "This bill will provide an additional criminal penalty of a class A misdemeanor for smoking marijuana in a motor vehicle when a child is present," Sellers said, and described requirements for in‑person or virtual education developed by the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Floor debate included concerns about the bill's age threshold (the bill treats persons under 19 as "child" for reporting purposes), the interaction with future medical‑marijuana rules, and the risk that mandatory reporting would place otherwise innocent parents into the DHR database. Representative Morris and others warned that reporting requirements can put parents into a long‑lasting DHR file based on a single complaint. "We are making it a parent responsible for an 18‑year‑old who may smoke without the parent's knowledge," Representative Morris said.
Supporters stressed the bill's child‑protection rationale and pointed to courts' ability to tailor penalties and require education. The sponsor offered a substitute expanding virtual education and collaboration with public‑health and law‑enforcement agencies; the House adopted the substitute and later recorded final passage. The clerk recorded 77 ayes and 2 nays on final passage of HB72.
The measure requires the Department of Public Health to devise education materials in collaboration with other state agencies and obligates law enforcement and mandated reporters to report violations to DHR for assessment.
