BATON ROUGE (AP) — In a demonstration of the changing opinions about marijuana use, Louisiana lawmakers have agreed that people caught with small amounts of pot for recreational use should not go to jail, voting Monday to send the bill lessening the penalties to the governor’s desk.
The Senate’s 20-17 vote gave final passage to the proposal by Rep. Cedric Glover, a Shreveport Democrat, with the exact number of votes it needed to pass the chamber. The House already had backed the bill in a 68-25 vote. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has not taken a public position on the bill.