CALCASIEU PARISH, LA (KPLC) -

 If you think there are too many in jail or prison for possession of marijuana, you'll likely support the new law signed by Gov. Bobby Jindal.

The lower penalties take effect immediately. Someone caught with less than 14 grams of marijuana will face up to 15 days in jail and up to six months if caught with less than 2 1/2 pounds. The maximum penalty drops from 20 years in prison to eight years.

The law mostly affects those who are arrested in the future -- as it reduces fines and sentences and whether incarceration may involve time in jail or prison.

It won't automatically reduce sentences for those already in jail or prison.

However, local defense attorney Walt Sanchez said it may help them get an earlier release.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) signed a law to provide access to medical marijuana on Monday, nearly a quarter-century after his state had legalized cannabis use by chronically ill people.

Though Louisiana signed off on medical marijuana in 1991, it has remained unavailable because the state legislature didn't create a system to legally grow and distribute the drug. The new law fills that significant gap.

Louisiana becomes the first Southern state to make marijuana available to its residents for medical use. It joins 23 other states and the District of Columbia where medical marijuana is already legal and accessible.

Who would have thought that the most notable legislation in the recently completed session of the Louisiana legislature was increasing taxes by over one billion dollars, and legalizing marijuana use for certain purposes.  Some observers around the state capitol wondered sarcastically just where did all the conservative republicans go?  

A number of state legislative sessions recently adjourned leaving several new cannabis bills awaiting governors’ signatures. Two states in particular—Louisiana and Texas—made moves towards legalizing cannabis. Their bills have a lot in common. They are highly restrictive, CBD only, and allow access for a very limited number of conditions. Most importantly, they suffer from the same fatal flaw—they require doctors issue “prescriptions” for medical cannabis.

There is a new social tend developing among marijuana cannabis devotees- the heady mix of God, weed and church services. The latest in the news is The First Church of Cannabis based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Minister of Love William Levin has taken advantage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to start the church and announced the first service will take place on July 1st, when the act becomes legal. What does this mean? Apparently parishioners will be able to light up on church premises without fear of arrest. Pretty interesting when you consider that Indiana doesn’t even allow medical marijuana use.

What if the media covered alcohol like it does other drugs? This was a question that came up in my coverage of flakka, a synthetic drug that made headlines after law enforcement blamed it for people running in the streets naked in delusional paranoia. What follows is a satirical attempt at capturing that same type of alarmist reporting, but for a substance that really causes widespread and severe problems.

NEW ORLEANS — An ongoing drug epidemic has swept the US, killing hundreds and sickening thousands more on a daily basis.

When Governor Bobby Jindal signs HB 149 into law sometime this week (perhaps today), Louisiana will officially become America’s 19th state with decriminalized marijuana possession.

Just two weeks after the state’s Senate gave the bill its overwhelming blessing, Louisiana’s House too agreed that weed and those that inhale the stuff should be unchained, voting 74-19 in favor of the new legislation.

And here’s exactly what the bill will do:

The bill proposes the following changes:

State lawmakers will again debate whether to allow medical marijuana to be dispensed in Louisiana.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As a majority of Louisiana lawmakers push forward with a proposed medical marijuana law, some are looking to the past — and not with nostalgia.

Some 15 years after former Gov. Edwin Edwards was convicted of bribery and extortion in a corruption scheme involving riverboat casino licenses, some lawmakers worry weaknesses in the medical marijuana proposal could lead to similar abuse.

With a few notable exceptions, the American public's opinion on marijuana -- both medical marijuana and recreational, adult use marijuana -- is growing more favorable.

Late Thursday, the Louisiana House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow for the legalization of medical marijuana in that state, and the signs are that Republican Governor Bobby Jindal will sign it.

“Our view on medical marijuana was it had to be supervised and had to be a legitimate medical purpose and this bill meets that criteria,” the governor said while the bill and its amendments were being debated in late May.