The rules are about to change when it comes to marijuana penalties in Augusta-Richmond County

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

News 12 at 5 O’Clock

AUGUSTA, GA (WRDW/WAGT) – The rules are about to change when it comes to enforcing marijuana penalties in Augusta-Richmond County.

Commission voted in favor Tuesday to change those rules from 60 days and fines to just lesser fines.

While state law still says marijuana is illegal, it still gives local officials the power to choose the penalties.

The penalties can be steep, and the consequences often bring long-term effects. If you ask local officials, getting caught with an ounce or less of marijuana should not carry heavy legal burdens.

“Again, we don’t want to sound the wrong message – marijuana is still illegal,” Omeeka Loggins from the Richmond County Solicitor’s Office said. “However, if they find themselves in a situation, we won’t want them to be in a situation where they’re not able to move forward.”

Moving forward has proven to be expensive for [man]. He’s one of the 339 people on probation for misdemeanor marijuana in Richmond County.

“It was less than an ounce,” he said. “It was less than a blunt.”

He was caught with about a gram of marijuana two months ago. Now he does monthly drug tests, classes, and makes payments.

But that's not the case for some. In the last 8 months, the Richmond County Sheriff's Office only handed out citations to 262 people caught with an ounce of weed. Under the current city code, it means they're paying up to $1,000 each for the ticket.

“We’ve lowered the fees and fixed it,” Augusta-Richmond County Commissioner Dennis Williams said.

With a new ordinance change, officials say it enables people to actually pay fines instead of being buried in them. In turn, it helps diminish the backlog of probations, delete pending misdemeanor prosecutions, and changes who faces jail time.