Louisiana: Stand up against benefits discrimination and marijuana penalty-increasing legislation

Published: May 28, 2010

The Louisiana legislature doesn’t seem to get it. As the rest of the country moves toward a more sensible marijuana policy, Louisiana’s legislature is ratcheting up its failed war on marijuana users. Two obnoxious pieces of legislation — a drug testing bill for welfare recipients and a marijuana penalty enhancement bill — have easily passed one chamber and will be awaiting their final floor vote soon.

H.B. 617 mandates drug testing for those who receive cash assistance benefits and suspend the benefits after two failed tests. This bill will hurt patients who use marijuana for medical purposes as well as occasional recreational marijuana users and add more fear and shame to their lives. Using marijuana should not be something that the state can use to deny a family the living stipend it desperately needs.

Please e-mail your senator to let her or him know that marijuana users and their families also deserve welfare benefits This bill is unacceptable and discriminatory. Ask your senator to refocus his or her priorities on exploring money-saving legislation that reduces penalties for marijuana offenses.

H.B. 617 passed the House 61-27, and is awaiting consideration in the Senate Judiciary C before moving to the Senate floor.  

The second bill, S.B. 576, would increase the penalty for second-offense marijuana possession while the rest of the country moves to reduce penalties. Please call your representative today and ask her or him to oppose this absurd legislation.

S.B. 576, introduced by Sen. Dan Claitor (R–Baton Rouge), would require an individual convicted a second time of simple marijuana possession to pay a mandatory fine of at least $250 — at most $2,000! — while retaining the provision that could also land the offender in prison with hard labor for five years. Additionally, the legislation would mandate that the offender spend at least 48 hours in jail unless the offender attends mandatory drug abuse treatment and completes 48 hours of community service. S.B. 576 passed the Senate 36-0 and was reported favorably out of the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee on May 25, and now it awaits its final floor vote.

Please let your lawmakers know that the money wasted on incarcerating men and women across Louisiana for simply possessing marijuana could be better spent on any of the vital services that have been hit hard, including working on rebuilding New Orleans and dealing with the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this on so that even more Louisianans can participate in reform.