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Arkansas Relaxes Marijuana Possession Penalties

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #699)
Drug War Issues

As of September 2, a new law that relaxes the penalty for some marijuana offenses has gone into effect in Arkansas. Under the new law, people caught in possession of up to four ounces may be sentenced to a year's probation without formal charge, at the judge's discretion.

Under the new law, existing penalties for pot possession still remain. Offenders can still be sentenced to up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. But now, judges can opt for the sentence of probation with no criminal record.

Also, under the previous Arkansas law, possession of anything more than an ounce was punished by four to 10 days in jail and large fines. Now, someone possessing as much as four ounces will be eligible for probation.

The new law also lessons the penalties for repeat possession offenders and makes possession with the intent to deliver small amounts of marijuana a misdemeanor instead of a felony.

The law was passed last spring by the legislature and backed by Gov. Mike Beebe (R), who signed it into law in March.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

billy bob 58 (not verified)

In reply to by Kyle (not verified)

I got my door broke down because DEA in bentonville had a hunch someone next door might be having a bit too much company,they were not home so they busted me and did not even know my name,pulled guns and mentally and phisically abused me searched my home and found some pot and peref that they put there themself,said if I would take responsibility for it I would not go to jail,then they gave me a ticket for it and a court date and the judge asked me where i got the money to buy the controled substance MJ I said I did not have any controled substance,I have a new court date and have to get a lawer 1200.00,seem like a good racket to get into.its called legalized stealing,I wanted to make a citizens arrest,but they said that was against the law,I wonder which ONE.

Fri, 03/08/2013 - 5:25pm Permalink

It appears that Arkansas is moving in the direction that will become hot debate in the coming election days. Marijuana, as with prohibition of alcohol in the '20,s and early '30,s, will ultimately be legalized, taxed and regulated. This should take pot out of the hands of the underage users to the degree that alcohol laws do now. Not perfect, but much more effective than with pot being illegal now and in high demand by the underage user because it is too hard to get alcohol due to the fact that it  is controlled, taxed and regulated and only available with ID to the 21 year old user.  Legalize marijuana and the entire nation would see an increase in tax revenue, more job creation, less excessive alcohol consumption, a reduction in wasted law enforcement, less carnage on our streets and highways, and an increase in the availability of marijuana to our youth.

 

Other states are currently considering or taking similar actions in preparation for the repeal of current marijuana laws that have loaded our criminal justice system needlessly and put sick people in prison.

Thu, 09/08/2011 - 4:04pm Permalink

You mention that the accused faces "..four to 10 days in jail and large fines". This is incorrect, it's 4-10 years. Big difference. And yes our governor is a Democrat. He is against medical marijuana legislation too.

Fri, 09/09/2011 - 12:50pm Permalink
Afraidtotell (not verified)

I have epilepsy and the medication I take, the only medication ever to stop my seizures, has caused me to loose 40 pounds. I weigh less than 100 pounds now. I have no appetite. The side effects take away the taste of food, the desire to eat and causes stomach cramps when I force food down. I feel cold and tired from not eating. I look frightening and people point at me in public and saw awful things like 'crack head' or 'anorexic'. Cashiers use hand sanitizer after taking my money because they think I have something they might catch. When I use just minimal amounts of marijuana, I can eat a small meal without stomach pain. I actually want to eat. I feel warm. Since a large drug bust in my town, I have had nothing. I am afraid to seek marijuana. I have never been in trouble with the police and don't wish to be. My weight is dropping. I can starve or seizure. This is no life. I don't want to be a criminal, I want to be a normal person. I tried a drug to gain weight given to cancer patients but I slept most of the day and that is no life either.

Sat, 02/04/2012 - 7:51pm Permalink
hammer (not verified)

In reply to by Afraidtotell (not verified)

that is so sad .im so sorry to hear that .im shure there are alot of people out there with the same problem .i have a weight problem to but im not sick just dont get hungry like i should so im skinny ..everyone thinks there right and god forbid you tell them there wrong .its human nature to be wrong from time to time but the people that are controlling the situation with people like you are %100 wrong .seems more like population control to me .give them alcohol poisoning or lung cancer and put acid in food and floride in toothpast but dont give them the choice to take something that would help them.they think there right and thats all that matters to them .there way to proud to change or admit there wrong .pot just makes you laugh eat and chill ,alcohol makes you wanna fight cheat and act realy stupid and cant even fuction normaly in any situation .cigs are just a discusting habbit and causes houses to burn down and kill people sleeping in there bed ,thats all ok though .because back in the day they didnt have a clue what those things did to you so they left them leagal ,now they know how bad they are and still are leagal .if the us would leagalize pot like beer the revinue would be 10 times the amount of the alcohol and cigs put together .90 percent of the population says no to pot because of what they have been told ,pot is bad they say but its ok for them to spend a crap load of money getting stupid retarded on alcohol knowing its bad for them when they know there is no proof that pot deose anything but give you the muncheis and makes you chill .and they say they know everything about something when they have never done it .they say its a gateway drug ,well anything that gives you a buz is a gateway regardless on what it is..i dont smoke pot and probably never will but that dont mean i need to be against something cus someone in the 40s says i should .for example years ago when they made cigars eleagal to bring in the us from other countreis the president told his people to get as many as they could get there hands on and after they got them for him then he sighned the paper to be ilegal..pretty messed up.freedom my but .government is nothing but a buisness with a big god complex and we are all just employees that they dont pay enough.just a gigantic wallmart is all the us is just like russia .work your ass off but only give you what you need and forget what you want so they can eat 600$ dinners everynight and live in trillion dollar manssions lased in gold ..pretty pathetic .americans dont ask for alot at all just free will and be fair to us .but there is alot bigger reason for all this i promise and they know the people will rise after they have had enough .$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$bottom line $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.the countries that pot is leagal in had the lowest crime rate on the plannet .love peice and harmoney

Tue, 12/04/2012 - 1:18pm Permalink
anomin (not verified)

The laws wher changed in Arkansas it isent 4 ta 10 no mre and look mow we got it on the ballot Yheaaaa!!!!!! :)
Thu, 08/30/2012 - 4:35pm Permalink
skerrigan (not verified)

I was popped for driving on a suspended license recently while picking up groceries, and upon searching my vehicle, the officer found less than a gram of pot and my pipe (which had obviously been smoked out of). What kind of sentence am I looking at? I'm in Stone County, and I'm wondering if they'll make me serve time for it, or whether they'll just fine me and put me on probation. Any input at all would be helpful. My mother is sick and bedridden and I'm her primary caretaker. I'm afraid it would kill her to have me go to jail. Here's a brief list of my offenses: DWI on New Years (no accident, blew .08 but performed the field sobriety test perfectly, over and done with except for the license reinstatement), driving on a suspended license, driving on a suspended license again and possession of less than a gram of marijuana and smoking paraphernalia. Any idea what I'm looking at here? I have no idea where to even start looking and I go to court next week. I'm working two jobs and I'll probably lose both of them if I have to spend an extended period of time in jail.

 

tl;dr: My life sucks right now.

Thu, 10/24/2013 - 3:15pm Permalink
Bk (not verified)

I would say you're probably not looking at much. I got popped with 28 vials of ketamine (possession with intent to deliver) a class C felony and all I ended up with was a suspended 5 year sentence. No jail time, no probation, nothing but a slap on the wrist. That was in sebastian county arkansas.
Fri, 09/12/2014 - 9:42pm Permalink
Queen B (not verified)

I live in Central Arkansas and my son got busted for possession of paraphernalia and possession with intent for one half ounce of marijuana. I Would like to know what the judges sentence is for this. Are these 2 separate charges, or just 1 in itself?
Thu, 05/14/2015 - 6:48pm Permalink
Not Thought Out (not verified)

So after argument - fight with my wife she got angry and I guess she called 911 because we were fighting... anyway she hung up after dialing it and then she scared me and i thought she'd hurt herself so I called 911 for an Ambulance. I was outside and a Sheriff came upstairs he asked for my ID, i didn't think anything of it, and then I said my wife was in the bedroom and he just went in, I do not remember giving him the ok to enter my apartment. Another Sheriff came up and followed and then the Ambulance got there. 4 people began asking what was going on and making sure she was ok when a 5th person, a local police officer who i've had a almost targeted and harrased experience twice before came in and instantly began question me on when i smoked last, and began looking around the living room for things that caught his eye. I had a torch but that wasn't anything crazy odd... i suppose. He asked me to leave for the night so we'd both calm down and as he watch me grab for my  jacket he looked in my ashtray (he was looking everywhere for anything he could get a ticket on me with) and saw a BROKEN pipe someone left at my house and I broke and forgot in the ashtray. He asked me to step outside and started harassing my wife, saying he knew we had more in the house and that she had to give it to him because they'd get it anyway, that it would be best for her to cooperate. She has PTSD and was freaking out and just did what he said because she didn't realize what was going on. As I was walking in she was handing him a water pipe throught the door. I said they didn't have a warrant! They kinda got angry with me saying that she was being cooperative and that it was a good thing. They gave me a ticket for the broken unusable (which i believe the definition for drug paraphernalia is a device which is used to ingest a controlled substance) pipe... which couldn't have been paraphernalia because it wasn't usable. They gave my wife a ticket for the water pipe. I still had to leave and the cop said if i wanted the ticket to go away and stay off my record i could do whatever, controlled buys or something stupid and manipulative. The whole thing is absurd, its the end lf 2015 and still to this day everyday people with their own bills and problems are brought into a system where they didn't do anything wrong but argue, and cops are just looking for their pay.

Tue, 12/01/2015 - 9:10pm Permalink
Toshia (not verified)

Got pulled over got charged with less then 4 ounces of weed in a Lil sip lock bag first drug never been in trouble can someone tell me how much I'm looking at
Mon, 01/02/2017 - 12:43pm Permalink

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