Alabama is taking "baby steps" in loosening its penalties for cannabis offenders, but it appears that a "giant leap" would be indicated when it comes to one particular cannabis law in the state.

The law (13A-12-231) states "Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, in excess of one kilo or 2.2 pounds of cannabis is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in cannabis."

If the quantity of cannabis involved is in excess of one kilo or 2.2 pounds, but less than 100 pounds, such person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of $25,000.

That's what the letter of the law says. You are now facing felony charges and all the hassles and expenses surrounding something like that. Not only are you going through a "big bunch of stuff", you are clogging up the legal system, using the manpower of the district attorney's office, creating lots of paperwork for the employees at the courthouse, and you may even end up in prison along with the "real" criminals.

And for those of you who scream "But pot is illegal, you know that!" I have but one reply

Yes, I know it is illegal, but so is speeding or driving while "a little bit tipsy". These actions put other people in jeopardy. Growing your own herb in your own garden for your own use can't even compare to the damage to others that can be the result of these other offenses.

And those offenses are not felonies for first-time offenders!

And that is why this is a bad law. It is not applicable in all cases, and should be amended so that more evidence is required for a person to get hit with a felony arrest, such as unaccounted-for large sums of money, scales for weighing out deliveries, a delivery record or account book showing who-owes-what-to-who-and-when, unusual amounts of "guests", etc. Or how about some respect from the court system for good-old-fashioned detective work......narcotics officers can ask around in the "drug community" and find out if someone is trafficking or not (the users know where they can buy) and then based on the evidence found in the investigation, a felony trafficking charge may be levied, or not. All these things, and I'm sure more that I'm missing, should be taken into consideration before handing down a Grand Jury indictment for "felony drug trafficking"!!!!!

But the way the law is written takes none of those points into account. The felony charge is based on weight alone. Period. End of story. Do not pass go, go directly to jail, along with the meth lab "scientist" from across town.

I'm not saying that cannabis needs to be legalized today. I'm sure that will happen in good time. All I'm concerned with is that we have a "bad law" on the books here in Alabama and more people need to be aware of how one change in one law can help clean out the prisons, un-clog the legal system, and keep "homegrowers" from facing a felony charge.

And that's my $0.02

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