Ammiano bill seeks to keep marijuana cultivators out of prison

Sacramento Bee ^ | 2/22/11 | Peter Hehct

[SmithL]

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has introduced legislation to keep Californians convicted of illegal marijuana cultivation out of state prison.

Ammiano's Assembly Bill 1017 seeks to set a maximum sentence of one year in county jail for people convicted of illegal cultivation. Current California law treats illegal pot growing as a felony allowing up to three years in state prison, with stiffer sentences if the cultivation is connected to illegal sales or trafficking.

The bill by the San Francisco Democrat is also intended to make it easier for authorities to charge non-medical pot cultivators with a misdemeanor instead of a felony, . . .

[SmithL]

Yeah, he may well have a conflict of interest, I don't know. I do wonder why the Legislature is allowed to discuss anything that isn't part of the state's budget.

[I Buried My Guns]

Well golly, all the pot I grow is strictly medical (cough cough), so this does not apply to me.

That said, I like the law the way it is now. If you are unable to grow weed without burning down the house or shorting out the neighborhood, then you are a rookie and you ruin it for the rest of us.

[muir_redwoods]

I wonder how many pot growers California can afford to incarcerate.

[org.whodat]

I agree with you we ship them to the chinese coal mines, a win win situation with no down sides.

[blueunicorn6]

California didn’t legalize marijuana because it would put all the illegal growers out of business and ruin California’s economy.

[muir_redwoods]

I’m unwilling to spend any money to protect fools from their foolish behavior but, hey, I guess California has money to burn.