MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers have advanced a bill to criminalize exposing children to secondhand marijuana smoke, mainly in vehicles, even as recreational pot is legal in nearly half the U.S. states and the Yellowhammer State clings to its federal minimum wage and recreational prohibition.
House Bill 72, carried by Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, passed the House in late January 2026 and now heads to the Senate. It would make smoking or vaping marijuana in a car with a minor present a Class A misdemeanor — whether the vehicle is moving or parked — and require police and mandatory reporters like teachers to alert child welfare authorities if a child reeks of pot.
The measure, which takes effect Oct. 1 if enacted, also calls for public health education for first-time offenders amid concerns over asthma, developmental delays and other risks to kids from secondhand exposure. Supporters frame it as child protection in an era of rising marijuana use; critics, including some House Democrats led by Rep. Juandalynn Givan, decry it as government overreach that could ensnare families unnecessarily.
Alabama remains among the holdouts where recreational marijuana is fully illegal, sticking to the federal $7.25 minimum wage since 2009 and only allowing limited medical cannabis in non-smokable forms. Twenty-four states plus D.C. have legalized recreational use as of early 2026, while Alabama’s latest push polices whiffs of the stuff around children — a step some see as backward in a national tide toward leniency. The bill cleared the House despite the partisan split in the GOP-dominated chamber.