Politics
Louisiana Bill To Jail People For Smoking Marijuana Near College Campuses Passes, Heading To Governor’s Desk
Louisiana lawmakers have voted to send the governor a bill that threatens to send people to jail for up to one year if they smoke marijuana within 2,000 feet of a school property—including a college campus.
The legislation from Rep. Gabe Firment (R) was passed by the Senate in a 23-10 vote on Monday after having cleared the Senate last month. It next heads to the desk of Gov. Jeff Landry (R), whose staff previously testified in favor of the measure at a committee hearing.
HB 568 applies to people who violate drug laws “while smoking, vaping, or otherwise abusing such controlled dangerous substance while on any property used for school purposes by any school, within two thousand feet of any such property, or while on a school bus.”
Firment previously told senators at a House committee hearing that his bill “strengthens enforcement of Louisiana drug-free school zone laws by creating a clear behavior-based offense, so that when someone is openly smoking or vaping illegal drug in the school zone, law enforcement can act and prosecutors can prove the case.”
“For marijuana, the bill establishes a clear and consistent penalty—up to a year in jail and $1,000 fine, ensuring that violations in school zones result in real, enforceable consequences,” he said.
Sen. Rick Edmonds (R) argued on the Senate floor ahead of Monday’s final vote that the bill “strengthens enforcement of Louisiana drug school zone law by adding a behavior-based trigger for violations and clarifying the penalty structure.”
“The bill does not change what’s legal. It gives law enforcement a practical tool [and] ensures consistent consequences in school zones,” he said.
Kevin Caldwell, Southeast legislative manager for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), said the group is “disappointed” that lawmakers passed the bill.
“In almost all urban, as well as suburban, areas of the state this is a return to the failed policies of mass incarceration for cannabis,” he told Marijuana Moment. “Historically, data shows us these punitive penalties fall on the working poor and people of color. The arbitrary area, rarely if ever properly marked, is a geographic trap. The idea to make public consumption a felony is not based on reason and is not inline with the nature of the offense. The language is particularly vague for a felony charge.”
“This flies in the face of polls that continue to show that the citizens of Louisiana want to see prohibition end, not ramp up enforcement,” Caldwell said. “This legislation was a priority of Governor Jeff Landry, who personally lobbied state representatives and senators to pass this legislation without any amendments. A major step backwards for Louisiana.”
In 2021, then-Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed a bill decriminalizing marijuana by removing the threat of jail time for possessing up to 14 grams.
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Meanwhile, a Louisiana Senate bill to let patients with terminal and irreversible conditions use medical marijuana in hospitals is also advancing toward final passage.
Separate legislation to create a psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot program, using opioid settlement dollars to fund clinical trials aimed at developing alternative treatments such as psilocybin and ibogaine is also being considered this session.
A lawmaker recently filed a proposal that would create a new state task force to “study and develop findings and recommendations regarding the potential legalization of recreational marijuana.”
Another lawmaker also introduced a bill to create an adult-use marijuana legalization pilot program in the state to determine whether the reform should eventually be expanded and permanently codified.
Rep. Candace Newell (D)—who has long championed legislation to end cannabis criminalization and filed a similar legal marijuana pilot program measure last session—is sponsoring what’s titled the “Adult-Use Cannabis Pilot Program Regulation and Enforcement Act.”
Getting the bill across the finish line could prove complicated in the conservative legislature, however. Newell’s earlier version of the pilot program legislation didn’t advance to enactment last year, and lawmakers that session also rejected other marijuana reform proposals such as one that would have established a tax system to prepare the eventual legalization of adult-use cannabis.
