Marijuana In Louisiana Gets State Level Support

The Louisiana State Bar Association is standing up to relax marijuana sentencing laws.

State Senator J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, tells WGNO that "they are endorsing the idea of lessening the sentences for marijuana possession"

While the Louisiana District Attorneys Association and the State Sheriffs’ Association remain advocates to keep marijuana laws how they are on the books now, Morrell is hoping that the Bar Association's endorsement will help his marijuana bill that never made it out of the Senate Committee last session. A bill that he intends to bring back next year.

Morrell says that tax money used to prosecute and house offenders of marijuana laws could be used elsewhere:

“Had my bill passed this year turning marijuana into a misdemeanor, it would have saved the state of Louisiana twenty million dollars a year.” 

Should Louisiana make marijuana possession a misdemeanor or leave the law as is?