BOISE, Idaho — The House voted Tuesday to approve a bill creating a mandatory minimum fine for possessing 3 ounces or less of marijuana.
Members voted 54-14, with two members absent, to send HB 7 to the Senate.
Bill sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, said police officers “need this tool to better fight marijuana use made regular in our state.”
He argued marijuana is worse than alcohol because it is detectable for longer in a person’s body after consumption. Last year, Skaug proposed three separate bills that would have set a mandatory minimum fine at $420 for possession of 3 ounces or less of cannabis, but none of them advanced.
In current Idaho law, it is a felony to possess more than 3 ounces of marijuana, punishable by up to five years in prison, or up to a $10,000 fine, or both. Possession of less than 3 ounces is a misdemeanor crime with a fine up to $1,000 and no set minimum.
Rep. Rick Cheatum, R-Pocatello, debated in favor of the bill, arguing that he would “strongly support any legislation to stop the drug trade in Idaho.” He said his nephew had recently been killed in a car crash and that his brother found out that there were drugs and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle that caused the crash. Cheatum did not specify which drugs were found.
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