There is an article on Alternet by Paul Armentano (deputy director of NORML) titled "The 5 Worst States to Get Busted with Pot" which discusses the most severe marijuana laws in the country. At a time when support for marijuana legalization is rising and when a majority of the country believes that marijuana should be decriminalized it makes little sense to waste government resources in the manner of these states described in the article. Further, the argument could be made that marijuana prohibitions are wasteful and unsupported by logic and actual fact in every state where it exists. I have talked with a number of prosecutors and police who quietly support legalization and their opinion is supported by the low incidence of violence involved with marijuana possession, especially when compared to arrests for violent crimes that are associated with alcohol. Regardless of whether they support legalization or not, it is my experience that law enforcement officers would prefer to deal with someone under the influence of marijuana rather than alcohol.
The article targets the laws and criminal case outcomes of Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Arizona. Oklahoma has a new law that makes manufacturing of hashish an offense punishable by two years to life in prison. Oklahoma has other cases cited in the article where a 25 year old mother of 4 was sentenced to 30 years in prison for her involvement in the sale of $39.00 worth of marijuana, and the life sentence for possession of two ounces of marijuana by a man who required a wheelchair.
The article states that Texas prosecutes more of its citizens for marijuana than any other state, and that Marijuana arrests account for half of all arrests in Texas. 97% of those arrests were for possession only.
Florida doles out the harshest penalties on a regular basis, where possession of over 20 grams or cultivation of a single plant is a felony punished by up to 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Louisiana was in the news earlier this month, as the article states, for the sentencing of Cornell Hood who received a life sentence for possessing two pounds of marijuana. Hood was sentenced under a recidivist statute, where after three convictions the person would be receive a life sentence. However, Hood's prior convictions were so minor that he had never served a day in jail. The article also states that Louisiana has an enhancement for second offense possession of marijuana that makes it a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. A third offense of simple possession carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years. In Louisiana 91% of marijuana arrests are for simple possession.
Arizona is the only state that still punishes first offense, simple possession as a felony, with potential jail sentence of up to 18 months and fine up to $150,000.00 according to the article.
Virginia's marijuana laws are not as severe as the laws cited in the article. Simple possession is always a misdemeanor in Virginia, despite the amount. However, large amounts of marijuana are going to lead to suspicions of Possession with Intent to Distribute, and a charge of felony distribution rather than misdemeanor possession, which places the burden on the defendant to show that the marijuana was for personal use and not for sale.
In Virginia, citizens have the opportunity to have a first offense drug offense dismissed through a first offender provision in the Virginia Code section 18.2-251. First offense marijuana possession otherwise is punished with a maximum of 30 days in jail and up to $500 fine. Second and subsequent offenses are Class 1 Misdemeanors, punished by up to 12 months in jail and up to $2,500 fine.