Senate Democrats want to reduce the number of African-Americans in prison.
Recent studies show that blacks are more likely than whites to be arrested on marijuana charges, even though whites are just as likely to use.
Senate Democrats say it would make a difference to lessen the penalties for possession with intent to distribute small amounts of marijuana.
Under their bill, an offender with less than about two ounces of pot with intent to deliver would be guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor. State Center Democrat Steve Sodders says currently it's a class D felony whether you’re delivering two ounces or 100 pounds.
“If I walk up to a car and your girlfriend is sitting next to you,” Sodders says, “and you hand her the pipe and she sticks it in her bra and she says he gave it to me, that's a delivery. That's a Class D.”
Sodders says aggravated misdemeanor is still a serious charge with a possible two year sentence.
“This is not a chump change charge,” Sodders says.
Researchers at the Department of Corrections say the lesser penalties would have meant a shorter sentence for 60 percent of blacks in prison for distributing small amounts of pot.
The bill didn’t make it past its first hurdle in the Senate, and Senator Sodders wants to hear from more interested parties. Another bill would reduce penalties for simple possession of very small quantities of marijuana.