Georgia Senate Committee Passes Bill to Greatly Reduce Marijuana Possession Penalties
Georgia’s Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a measure that would significantly reduce the penalties associated with possessing small amounts of marijuana.
Senate Bill 105, filed by Senator Harold Jones (D), would reduce the penalty associated with possessing up to a half ounce of cannabis from a potential one year prison sentence, to a maximum fine of $300 with no jail time.
The measure would also alter the penalty for possessing one to two ounces of cannabis.
Under current law possessing over an ounce of marijuana is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison (with a mandatory sentence of a year). Senate Bill 105 would make it so that possessing one to two ounces is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail (as would possessing half an ounce to an ounce).
Possessing over two ounces would remain a felony punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years.
Click here for the full text of Senate Bill 105.