Cal Senate Passes Bill to Raise MJ Fines, Please Write Rep's

SACRAMENTO, May 26th. The California Senate approved
a bill that
would raise the fine for possession of less than one
ounce of
marijuana to $250 from $100. The bill, SB 797 by
Sen. Gloria Romero
(D-LA) would also make possession a "wobblet", meaning
that it could
be optionally charged as an infraction instead of a
misdemeanor.
California NORML opposes SB 797 in its present
form because it is
too heavily weighted toward penalty increases for
marijuana. SB 797
is a watered-down version of last year's bill by Sen.
Sher, which
would have made all marijuana offenses an infraction.
SB 797 managed to sneak through without serious
opposition from
drug reformers because it was introduced at the last
minute as a
"gut-and-rewrite" bill. Ironically, the bill was
supported by
pro-drug-reform Democrats and opposed by anti-reform
Republicans
because it was falsely perceived as a pro-reform bill.
California NORML is hoping to block or amend SB
797 in the
Assembly. Supporters are urged to contact their
legislators in
opposition to the current bill:
http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=7602986&type=ST
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Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml [at] igc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
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