This week a Louisiana House committee has approved a bill that will decriminalize and regulate marijuana for recreational use.
The approval comes despite opposition from sheriffs and prosecutors in the state.
State Rep. Richard Nelson (R-Mandeville) authored House Bill 524 which had advanced from the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice on a 7-5 vote. Two other GOP committee members voted yes on the bill.
According to Nelson, who cited a study from John Couvillion in 2020, nearly two-thirds of Louisiana residents polled supported legalizing marijuana, with support from Democrats and Republicans.
The bill now faces the full House, where conservatives hold a decisive advantage.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has also said that he opposes recreational marijuana and he would be needed to sign the bill into a law.
“There’s a proverb that says no matter how far you’ve gone down the wrong road, turn back, and I think that’s pretty applicable to how Louisiana’s marijuana policy is now,” Nelson told committee members Tuesday.
According to Loren Lampert with the Louisiana Association of District Attorneys, legalizing recreational marijuana would open the door for foreign cartels to ‘co-op’ licensed growers in the state, leading to more violent crime.
Warren Montgomery, district attorney for St. Tammany and Washington parishes, cited multiple studies when stating that, “Homelessness goes up, crime goes up, including violent crime, and mental illness, substance abuse goes up. That is what is gonna happen if you vote to legalize marijuana in the state of Louisiana.”
