HARTFORD, Conn.—Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's push to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, which would make Connecticut law consistent with that of neighboring New York and Massachusetts, received mixed reviews on Monday.

Malloy included the decriminalization proposal in a package of bills aimed at reducing the state's prison population, making the criminal justice system more cost-effective and focusing resources on repeat violent and serious offenders. Under the proposal, someone caught with less than one ounce of marijuana would be charged with an infraction and $100 fine instead of a misdemeanor.

The state's top prosecutor, Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane, told the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee that he doesn't believe it would be a money-saver for his office.

"The reality is, people do not go to jail for possession of small quantities of marijuana. It doesn't happen without aggravating factors," Kane told lawmakers.

He said the legislation could send the message that the state of Connecticut tolerates marijuana. He also pointed out how the bill makes no distinction between adults and minors possessing the drug, and creates no limit on the number of infractions that someone could receive for possessing marijuana.

Kane said records were not available for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, but there are currently 31 cases in which the Department of Correction considers possession of four ounces of marijuana to be someone's primary offense. In each instance, there were other charges pending, such as possession of weapons, lengthy records or a plea agreement that reduced the charge to possession of marijuana, he said.

Col. Danny R. Stebbins, acting Department of Public Safety commissioner, said Malloy's proposal would save the state millions of dollars at a time when resources are scarce.

"While the state has been spending millions in arrests, prosecution and post-conviction probation for small amounts of marijuana, it has been failing to fund necessary staffing for DNA analysis that will solve cold cases and bring to justice the state's most violent criminals," he said.

Michael Lawlor, Malloy's undersecretary of justice policy and planning at the Office of Policy and Management, said figures from the General Assembly's Office of Fiscal Analysis show that in 2009 there were 8,118 arrests statewide for possession of marijuana. In 2,700 of those cases, possession of marijuana was the only charge and 75 percent of those involved less than one ounce of the substance.

He said the Office of Adult Probation supervised 1,090 probationers for misdemeanor possession of marijuana, which is punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to one year in prison.

"There is no question that these resources could have been more effectively utilized for convicting, incarcerating and supervising violent and more serious offenders," Lawlor wrote in written testimony to the committee.

Malloy, a Democrat, has also proposed expanding the types of sentences that certain offenders could receive. For example, someone charged for the first time with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence could face a 90-day license suspension followed by nine months of limited driving using an ignition interlock device. Current law requires a one-year license suspension.

Those offenders sentenced to a mandatory prison term for driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, under Malloy's proposal, could be sentenced to home confinement, monitored with GPS technology and subjected to alcohol-consumption monitoring. The option would also be made available for people charged with misdemeanor drug offenses, such as possession of less than four ounces of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Malloy's plan would also allow the Department of Correction commissioner to award "Risk Reduction Credits" to inmates who follow the prison's rules, participate in programs that will help them successfully reintegrate into the community, comply with their personal accountability plans and volunteer for causes, such as the inmates who recently volunteered to shovel out fire hydrants and fill sand bags following winter storms.

Leo Arnone, the DOC commissioner, said Malloy's concept is different from the so-called "statutory good time" program the prisons agency used prior to 1995.

"That good time was just handed to inmates because they were alive," he said. "It had really no stipulations on it, it was all just mandatory. We could take it away, which was very helpful for discipline and management of the facilities, but as far as giving it, it was all automatic."

Also Monday, the Judiciary Committee heard testimony on two bills, including one proposed by Malloy, that would allow for the medical use of marijuana in Connecticut. Malloy's bill, similar to the one former Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed in 2007, would prohibit the arrest and prosecution of patients who use the drug and are qualified and have registered with the state to use marijuana to ease the effects of their medical conditions.

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