CHARLESTON, W.Va. — City council passed an ordinance Monday night that lessens the punishment for the simple possession of marijuana.
While there were some comments on the floor opposing the change, the ordinance ultimately passed on a 20-5 vote.
The bill, that was co-sponsored by Councilmember Chad Robinson and Councilmember Frank Annie, will change the city code and now waive the fine for the first offense of adults carrying less than 15 grams of cannabis in Charleston, as long as that individual does not have any previous drug-related convictions in the last year.
In addition, second-time offenders will face a $250 fine, while third time and subsequent offenders face a maximum of $500.
While pleased that the bill had a chance to be passed later in the meeting, public speaker Ryan Harlow says the fines are still a burden for those in low-income neighborhoods for something that he says is not incredibly harmful.
“As it stands, a minimum wage worker, after tax, would have to work 31 hours in their second offense and over 62 hours for the third offense to pay for this fine,” Harlow said on Monday. “As an hourly wage worker myself, I cannot imagine forfeiting four fifths of my work week over something as trivial as possession of a plant that is not nearly as harmful or dangerous as alcohol is.”
Bill 8039 has heard plenty of discussion over the last month, as the bill was brought up on two separate occasions in July, with the first being solely in a Committee on Ordinance & Rules meeting. After that, the bill, along with Bill No. 8043, which set out to make the penalty for misdemeanor marijuana possession the lowest penalty by State Law, was brought to Charleston City Council.
When brought to City Council on July 16, councilmembers went back and forth with the bills, and there were some questions and comments that led to some confusion. Some of the questions asked on the floor showed there was confusion as to whether the bills fully legalized marijuana in Charleston or not, and as a result, the bills were moved back to committee for another time.
The Committee on Ordinance & Rules met last Thursday, and in the meeting, they decided to focus solely on Bill 8039, as well as made changes to the language behind the bill to eliminate any confusion.
Robinson said there has been lots of work and flexibility with this bill over the last month to get it where it is now.
“We went from the introduced version to one extreme, and we worked our way back,” Robinson said Monday.
Before the bill was voted on, Robinson made sure to clear the air on what the bill would not do, saying it cannot legalize marijuana.
“It does not legalize marijuana,” Robinson said before the vote Monday. “Marijuana can only be legalized by the federal government and the state government.”
Robinson says the bill has some more restrictions other than not being able to fully legalize marijuana.
“It does not reschedule marijuana, the federal government and the state government can only do that,” Robinson said. “The committee substitute does not decriminalize possession of marijuana, and it does not change any charges taken by county sheriff or state police to the Magistrate Court.”
Bill 8039 will go into effect in just five days.