The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes as they relate to the punishment for certain marihuana possession and drug paraphernalia possession offenses. Under the provisions of the bill, the punishment for certain drug-related offenses would be reduced to a class C misdemeanor.
Reducing the punishment for any offense is expected to result in fewer demands on the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to fewer individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement within county correctional institutions. The bill may have a positive population impact by decreasing the number of people under misdemeanor community supervision. Whether the bill would result in a significant reduction in correctional populations and demands on state correctional resources is indeterminate due to a lack of statewide data on the exact amount of marihuana an individual possessed at the time of their offense. In fiscal years 2018 through 2020, 75,250 individuals were arrested for possession of marihuana under two ounces and 18,024 individuals placed under community supervision for possession of marihuana under two ounces. Data do not exist that would allow cases in which the individual possessed one ounce or less to be identified from among all other possession of marihuana under two ounces cases.