Debate on smoking bills at the state capitol has sparked some interesting discussion.

One Bismarck lawmaker says the Compassionate Care Act, legalization of medicinal cannabis, passing in North Dakota is a sign of shifting attitudes across the country.

Republican Bismarck Representative Rick Becker has introduced a bill that would decriminalize the drug.

While possessing, smoking or selling marijuana would remain illegal, it would lower the penalty from possible jail time to an infraction.

That means the person would only have to pay a fine if convicted.

Some cases of distribution, like selling to a minor, would remain jail-able offenses.

"Jailing certainly doesn't do anything for rehabbing the person. We are potentially taking productive members out of society," says Becker.

"The majority of folks that do go to jail, do go to the penitentiary, have a chemical dependency issue, but they are also doing something else that gets them to that point. It is very rare that you see someone going to the penitentiary simple drug use," says Aaron Birst, State's Attorney's Association.

Birst says he doesn't mind decriminalizing personal use, but takes issue with decriminalizing distribution.

A bill that would prohibit workmen's compensation money from going towards medical marijuana passed on the House floor Monday afternoon, 81-9.

