A Wyoming legislative committee has voted to make possession of edible marijuana a misdemeanor and will require prosecutors to determine how much marijuana is actually in the candy, drink, or other products.
The House Judiciary committee changed the Senate version of the bill that had said possession of three ounces of edible marijuana was a felony. Laramie Democrat Charles Pelkey said the focus will now be on the amount of marijuana in the edible.
“Changed it from the weight provision of the gross edible to 3.6 grams of THC. That puts the onus on the prosecution to actually measure and count how much controlled substance is within the contents of the edible rather than just saying you have a four ounce brownie and you are guilty because there is some marijuana.”
The House version of the bill says that the penalty for the misdemeanor will increase with each violation. Pelkey added that the committee is trying to address possession in a reasonable way.
“It’s still a criminal penalty but at least they are defelonizing some of it. And I think frankly I’m not sure you should be putting people away in prison for that kind of offense.”
Pelkey said fines and treatment are better approaches. The bill now goes to the full House of Representatives for further debate.
