The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis.  The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code to provide an affirmative defense to prosecution for the offense of marihuana possession in certain circumstances related to medical use of marihuana. Possession of marihuana is punishable at various misdemeanor and felony levels, depending on the amount possessed.

Providing a defense to prosecution for any offense is expected to result in decreased demand on the correctional resources of the state, due to fewer persons potentially placed under felony community supervision or admitted into state correctional facilities. In fiscal year 2014, 5,369 people were arrested, 1,317 placed under felony community supervision and 1,141 admitted into state correctional facilities for the offense of marihuana possession. Statewide data do not exist to indicate which of these persons would meet the prosecution defense criteria included in the bill. However, this analysis assumes the bill's provisions would not result in a significant impact on state correctional populations, programs, or workloads.