February 10, 2005 - Washington, DC, USA Washington, DC: Over a dozen state legislatures will be debating proposals to liberalize state marijuana penalties this spring. Already, several state bills to depenalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use and/or to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana under a physician's supervision have been introduced, and several more are pending. Below is a summary of this year's more prominent state legislative proposals. Medical Marijuana Bills to legalize the use of medicinal marijuana by qualified patients are currently before the legislatures of Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico and Tennessee. In Texas, lawmakers are also debating a proposal to allow medicinal cannabis patients to raise an affirmative defense of medical necessity at trial. Next week, legislation protecting medical cannabis patients from state prosecution is scheduled to be introduced in Alabama and Ohio, while similar bills are anticipated to be introduced in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Decriminalization To date, two states are considering bills to remove criminal penalties for the possession of minor amounts of marijuana. In New Hampshire, House Bill 197 seeks to remove marijuana from the state's "Controlled Drug Act" so that individuals found in possession of cannabis will no longer face criminal penalties. The bill is currently before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, where it is scheduled to be heard next week. In Texas, lawmakers are considering legislation, House Bill 254, to reduce the penalties on the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana to a Class C misdemeanor. If passed by the legislature, individuals charged with simple marijuana possession will face a ticket and a fine in lieu of criminal prosecution. For detailed information on these state bills or other related legislation, or to receive legislative "action alerts" and/or to send letters in support of marijuana law reform, please visit: http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/ Link to article: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6435
I can tell you now that Texas isn't going to have it decriminalized but rather New Hampshire. There state motto even states "Live free or die." and there are already so many laws that only they don't have.