Possession of controlled substances: penalties.

(1) Existing law provides that the unlawful possession of certain controlled substances, including, among others, cocaine, heroin, and those classified in Schedule III, IV, or V as a narcotic drug, is a felony punishable in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years. The unlawful possession of the depressants mecloqualone, methaqualone, and gamma hydroxybutyric acid is punishable as a misdemeanor by imprisonment for not more than one year in a county jail or as a felony by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years. The unlawful possession of certain other controlled substances, including, among others, concentrated cannabis, and those classified in Schedule III, IV, or V as nonnarcotic drugs, is punishable as a misdemeanor by imprisonment for not more than one year in a county jail, a fine, or by both imprisonment and fine, or as a felony by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years. This bill would make the unlawful possession of any of those substances a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year. (2) Existing law requires a person who is convicted of specified controlled substance offenses to register with the law enforcement agency of a city, county, or city and county within 30 days of becoming a resident of that city, county, or city and county. This bill would exclude certain misdemeanor offenses from the offenses that require a person to register, including, among others, a misdemeanor conviction for unlawful possession of concentrated cannabis. (3) Existing law requires each person who is convicted of specified controlled substances offenses to pay a drug program fee in an amount not to exceed $150. This bill would, for persons convicted of specified misdemeanor offenses involving the possession of controlled substances, raise the fee to $500 for a first offense and to $1,500 for a second or subsequent offense. The bill would raise the fee to $250 for a first offense and to $500 for a second or subsequent offense if the person is granted probation and accepts the terms of probation. (4) Existing law requires a person convicted of a nonviolent drug possession offense to be granted probation. This bill would, if a defendant who has been offered probation, pursuant to the above law or any other law providing probation for a nonviolent drug possession offense, rejects probation, authorize the correctional administrator of a jail to require the defendant to serve the balance of his or her sentence on continuous electronic monitoring if the correctional administrator has made a determination that conditions in the jail necessitate releasing sentenced misdemeanor inmates. The bill would authorize the correctional administrator to condition the release on any reasonable conditions related to the underlying offense, and to impose sanctions for a violation of the conditions of release, as provided.