The House of Representatives passed a bill Jan. 29 requiring certain people to report parents whose children smell like marijuana smoke.
House Bill 72 by Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, would require mandatory reporters to inform the Department of Human Resources when children smell of marijuana. The bill requires DHR to investigate these instances like suspected child abuse or neglect.
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It would also make smoking marijuana in a car when a child is present a Class A misdemeanor. Smoking tobacco with children in the car is already a criminal offense.
If a person violates the law, courts would be required to order the person to participate in an in-person education course about the dangers of drug and marijuana use around children developed by the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Inspiration for bill
Sellers said the inspiration for the bill came from educators concerned about children who arrive at school reeking of marijuana.
“The effects of secondhand marijuana smoke on children goes deep, deeper than what people think,” Sellers said to the press after the bill passed. “There are effects of it, and we see it within our children, in their behaviors, in their ability to learn and to grow, in the brain development. And so it’s important to make sure we protect every child.”
There was rare disagreement between Democrats on the floor during debate. Several Democrats expressed concerns that the bill could have unintended consequences in its implementation, such as an increase in racial profiling or parents being held accountable for the behavior of their older children.
Under Alabama law, people are considered children until they turn 19, so the bill has the potential to indicate parents whose 18- or 19-year-old child smells like weed.
Rep. Juandalyn Givan, D-Birmingham, fiercely opposed the bill because it further criminalizes marijuana, which she said would affect people of color disproportionately. She said she believes the laws already on the books are sufficient to address problems with marijuana.
“It’s because of the unintended consequences. It is because that person may get stopped for a marijuana roach, or that person may be profiled, or because of the community that he or she comes from,” Givan said. “I think every Democrat that spoke today simply said, ‘We are for the rule of law, but there has to be a less restrictive means that we can accomplish this goal without further adding or enhancing the penalties of those, even someone 18 years of age who may have graduated from high school.”
The bill passed by a vote of 77–2, with 18 abstentions. Only six Democrats voted in favor of the bill.
It now heads to the Senate. Sellers said he doesn’t know who will carry the bill in the upper chamber.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Claire Harrison and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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