Legislature(1993 - 1994)
04/20/1994 02:30 PM House JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
CSSB 332 - WEIGHT OF LIVE MARIJUANA PLANTS CHAIRMAN PORTER announced the next order of business would be SB 332 relating to the weight of live marijuana plants. He asked Joe Ambrose to come forward and give the sponsor statement. JOE AMBROSE, Chief of Staff to Senator Robin Taylor, said the Senate Judiciary Committee introduced SB 332, said SB 332 was introduced on February 22, 1994, at the request of law enforcement agencies, and with the cooperation of the Department of Law. They would like to address concerns over the aggregate weight provisions of our controlled substance laws. Current law requires that marijuana seized in an investigation be reduced to its most commonly used form that is a saleable product. This is a time consuming project. It took the Ketchikan narcotics team of 32 officer hours to process 200 mature marijuana plants. When SB 332 was first introduced it was an attempt to directly address the aggregate weight calculations provided under current law. That proved difficult with any suggested revision in the current formula, raising questions that could jeopardize prosecutions in some cases. The Judiciary Committee substitute, which was approved unanimously by the Senate, would instead give law enforcement agencies and prosecutors an alternative to using the aggregate weight calculation. In cases of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the fourth degree, which is a Class C felony, law enforcement officials could use either the possession of an aggregate weight of one pound, or 25 or more marijuana plants to prove their case. This bill targets large marijuana growing operations. It would simplify prosecution, and avoid the need to process the seized plants. He noted the bill has a zero fiscal note, and did pass the Senate unanimously. Number 825 CHAIRMAN PORTER asked Margot Knuth if there was any differentiation, or could there be a problem with regards to the maturity of the plants. MARGOT KNUTH, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division Department of Law, stated that there is nothing in the bill requiring the plant to have reached a certain level of maturity, and every baby marijuana plant has the potential of becoming a nice productive healthy plant. To that extent, we are fairly comfortable that if you have 25 plants you can identify, the point is well made that this is no longer close to personal use, if we have such an amount of marijuana anymore. The big advantage of the bill is we will be able to take our law enforcement officers out of the business of drying marijuana to preserve it for trial. The amount of effort, energy, and time that goes into that is almost staggering, and the larger the case is, the more work it is to do, and it becomes truly frightening that we are spending our time this way. And if you do not do that, you put the prosecutor in a real bind, because juries think about everything, and there is nothing worse than going into court with spoiled evidence. If you go in with moldy little plants, your case will just go out the window. This is a very practical bill. Number 850 CHAIRMAN PORTER wanted to say, for the record, that this could be a little tiny plant or a big plant, because from little tiny plants, great big plants grow; and somebody should not get off just because you bust them too quick. Number 855 MR. AMBROSE added one more comment with regards to the processing of the product. Depending on the time frame from the time of the arrest, to the charge, until you take the individual to trial, this product can continue to dry, and actually fall below the weight that is required in the law to prosecute a case. So you may have a pound at the time you charge the individual, and the weight can fall below that. It can get pretty complicated. REPRESENTATIVE NORDLUND asked how the number 25 was selected. MS. KNUTH said they went around the offices statewide and asked what people felt was a comfortable quantity to be a felony level. She said they tried to be conservative in the sense that they did not want it to be too small of a number. Ms. Knuth said 25 plants at moderate growth will weigh well over a pound. It is meant to be on that side of the line. TAPE 94-62, SIDE B Number 001 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN moved that CSSB 332 (JUD) be passed out of the House Judiciary Committee, with accompanying fiscal notes, and individual recommendations. There being no objection, the motion carried. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN added an anecdote. There is a highway between Huntington Beach and La Habra, CA, that is a divided highway. The police officer had his picture taken on a ladder. He was holding up two seven feet marijuana plants that had been growing wild there. Representative Green said he didn't know marijuana could get anywhere near that big. How many pounds would that be?
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