Arizona senators have approved a pair of measures that would make the act of creating “excessive” amounts of marijuana smoke or odor a criminal nuisance punishable by jail time, even if the person is using cannabis in compliance with state law in their own homes.
Despite concerns about undermining the will of voters who passed legalization at the ballot and ambiguity around enforceability and what constitutes “excessive” marijuana smoke, members of the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee on Friday passed the bill and a companion resolution to put the issue on the ballot in 5-2 and 4-3 votes, respectively.
The legislation from Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R) was amended at the hearing in an attempt to provide a clearer definition of “excessive” smoke and remove a reference to making the offense a “crime.” However, certain members still argued that the measures lack clarity and would continue to pose the threat of criminalization by making the offense a class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a maximum $500 fine and up to one year of probation.
The revised definition of excessive cannabis smoke or odor describes it that which is “capable of being detected by a person on
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