A bipartisan bill to reduce the criminal penalty for minor marijuana possession is making its way through committee debate in both houses of the Alabama Legislature.

If passed by the Legislature and signed into law, possession of an ounce or less of marijuana will become punishable by a fine instead of jail time. An offense would be classified as a violation, a step below a misdemeanor, and carry a fine of up to $250.

The Alabama House and Senate Judiciary committees on Wednesday considered the bill, sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd, a Democrat, and Sen. Dick Brewbaker, a Republican.

The bill, which Todd has floated before, has a long way to go before making it to the governor’s desk. But Local law enforcement officials had mixed reactions about the possible change.

“I’m not in favor of that,” said Hanceville Police Chief Bob Long Wednesday. “Right now, it’s against the law, and I think it should be against the law. If you talk to young people who have gotten addicted to harder drugs, you’ll find that it’s a gateway drug that leads you to other drugs.”

Cullman Police Chief Kenny Culpepper said such a law would, in many cases, simply codify what’s become a reality for an overburdened criminal court system.

“Because of the of the problem of prison overcrowding, possession of a minor amount of marijuana is often treated like a violation anyway,” said Culpepper.

“The State of Alabama and the court system really can’t afford to keep offenders at that level in jail — we just don’t have the space. So, if the idea is to do something that would take some of that pressure off, and let us use the resources we do have for more serious drug charges, it would simply be writing into law something that we’re already doing on a de facto basis.”

Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry said Wednesday that he had not yet seen a draft of the bill, and reserved judgment on how he might receive such a law until after he had researched its implications.

Sen. Brewbaker said Alabama needs to change the criminal penalty for possessing minor amounts of marijuana because the state should not “hang felonies on college kids.” Todd, a Birmingham Democrat, has pushed for the change for several years.

Long said he is not opposed to medical uses of marijuana, but remains opposed to reducing criminal penalties for recreational use.

“I’m not against the use of medical marijuana, if it’s done in a medical environment and with a doctor’s prescription and supervision. I’m okay with that. But that’s not the same scenario that applies to the average person. I think marijuana is bad for people, and it’s illegal — and so long as it’s illegal, that’s how we’ll look at it at the police department.”

Benjamin Bullard can be reached by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 145.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.