Wyoming: Senate committee narrows scope of marijuana bill

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A Senate committee on Wednesday tightened a bill that deals with penalties for possession of marijuana-infused products.

House Bill 197 originally created a tiered penalty system for possession of small amounts of marijuana or marijuana-infused products.

The penalty system applied to possession of marijuana in plant form of less than 3 ounces and marijuana-infused products less than 8 ounces.

However, the Senate Judiciary Committee last week amended the bill to only apply to marijuana-infused products. It further amended the bill Wednesday to set the misdemeanor cutoff for possession of marijuana-derived products like extracts to 3 grams of such a substance. This is consistent with existing law for liquid forms of drugs.

Three grams is equal to about 0.1 ounces.

The same committee last week also extended the “look-back period” to determine subsequent offenses from five years to 10 years in the bill that emerged from the House.

Other amendments made Wednesday were meant to ensure the law targets marijuana-infused products.

The amendments were brought by the state Attorney General’s office.

Chief deputy attorney general John Knepper said part of the change ensures that something like hash oil does not end up in the definition of a marijuana product.

Hash oil is an extract derived from marijuana that can contain concentrated levels of THC, a psychoactive chemical in marijuana.

The ultimate goal of the bill, originally sponsored by Rep. Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, is to close the “edibles loophole,” which refers to Wyoming law that does not adequately address edibles or other marijuana products, compared with the plant form of marijuana.

The Legislature has attempted to close the “edibles loophole” in the past, but lawmakers have been unable to come to an agreement on the issue.

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the bill, and it now goes to the full Senate, where it could still be changed.

Senators on the Judiciary Committee are Leland Christensen, R-Alta; Liisa Anselmi-Dalton, D-Rock Springs; Larry Hicks, R-Baggs; Dave Kinskey, R-Sheridan; and Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne.

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