Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
In recent years, the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice has been a major influence on the legislative session, pushing through a variety of reforms, including harsher DUI sentences and more opportunities for convicts.
This year, the commission, which is made up of criminal justice experts, law enforcement and crime victims from around the state, has a “fairly lengthy list” of ideas for lawmakers, headlined by a law regarding driving with marijuana in your system, said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson.
Robinson, who represents the state’s sheriffs on the commission and chairs its drug policy task force, said the marijuana law has been discussed in the past but pushed to the forefront this year because of the ongoing debate over medical marijuana in Colorado.
“I think the medical marijuana piece put it more squarely on our radar screen,” Robinson said. “It’s definitely an area that has needed some attention over the years.”
Under the proposal the commission unanimously approved, it would be illegal to drive with five nanograms of THC per milliliter of whole blood in the driver’s body.
Robinson said he expects the legislation to be carried by two commission members who are also legislators: Sen. John Morse and Rep. Claire Levy.
Beyond the marijuana legislation, Robinson said the commission will push for some minor changes to the DUI legislation they supported last year.
The commission was formed in 2007 and is made up of criminal justice experts, law enforcement and crime victims from around the state. The group meets monthly to discuss a variety of law enforcement topics, including sentencing and recidivism.
In 2008, the commission’s first year of work, they made a handful of recommendations for state lawmakers, many of them focusing on ways to ease crowding in prisons and jails and cut back on recidivism.
Four of the commission’s recommendations — that the state issue summonses instead of arrest warrants in some cases, that convicts be allowed to keep their drivers’ license despite some criminal convictions, that inmates pay for higher education classes while incarcerated and that inmates can more easily earn good time in county jails — took effect in 2009 after Gov. Bill Ritter signed them into law in 2009.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: aurorasentinel.com
Author: BRANDON JOHANSSON
Copyright: 2011 Aurora Sentinel
Contact: Aurora Sentinel: Contact
Website: Medical marijuana among top areas of focus for justice commission in 2011 - Aurora Sentinel: News
This year, the commission, which is made up of criminal justice experts, law enforcement and crime victims from around the state, has a “fairly lengthy list” of ideas for lawmakers, headlined by a law regarding driving with marijuana in your system, said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson.
Robinson, who represents the state’s sheriffs on the commission and chairs its drug policy task force, said the marijuana law has been discussed in the past but pushed to the forefront this year because of the ongoing debate over medical marijuana in Colorado.
“I think the medical marijuana piece put it more squarely on our radar screen,” Robinson said. “It’s definitely an area that has needed some attention over the years.”
Under the proposal the commission unanimously approved, it would be illegal to drive with five nanograms of THC per milliliter of whole blood in the driver’s body.
Robinson said he expects the legislation to be carried by two commission members who are also legislators: Sen. John Morse and Rep. Claire Levy.
Beyond the marijuana legislation, Robinson said the commission will push for some minor changes to the DUI legislation they supported last year.
The commission was formed in 2007 and is made up of criminal justice experts, law enforcement and crime victims from around the state. The group meets monthly to discuss a variety of law enforcement topics, including sentencing and recidivism.
In 2008, the commission’s first year of work, they made a handful of recommendations for state lawmakers, many of them focusing on ways to ease crowding in prisons and jails and cut back on recidivism.
Four of the commission’s recommendations — that the state issue summonses instead of arrest warrants in some cases, that convicts be allowed to keep their drivers’ license despite some criminal convictions, that inmates pay for higher education classes while incarcerated and that inmates can more easily earn good time in county jails — took effect in 2009 after Gov. Bill Ritter signed them into law in 2009.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: aurorasentinel.com
Author: BRANDON JOHANSSON
Copyright: 2011 Aurora Sentinel
Contact: Aurora Sentinel: Contact
Website: Medical marijuana among top areas of focus for justice commission in 2011 - Aurora Sentinel: News
