Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

This bill revises present law provisions relative to criminal offenses involving marijuana, as discussed below. Under present law, it is a Class A misdemeanor for a person to: (1) Knowingly possess or casually exchange a controlled substance, unless the substance was obtained directly from or pursuant to a valid prescription or order of a practitioner while acting in the course of a professional practice; or (2) Distribute a small amount of marijuana not in excess of 1/2 ounce (14.175 grams). This bill revises the above provisions to: (A) Specify that (1) above does not include marijuana; (B) To rewrite (2) above to instead provide that it is a Class A misdemeanor for a person to: (i) Sell or distribute marijuana in an amount less than one ounce; or (ii) Knowingly possess or casually exchange marijuana. Under present law, it is a Class E felony offense for a defendant to knowingly manufacture, deliver, sell, or possess with the intent to manufacture, deliver, or sell a Schedule VI controlled substance classified as marijuana containing not less than 1/2 ounce (14.175 grams) nor more than 10 pounds (4535 grams). The offender may also be fined up to $5,000. This bill replaces the applicable amount of marijuana to "not less than one ounce (28.350 grams)." Under present law, it may be inferred from the amount of a controlled substance or substances possessed by an offender, along with other relevant facts surrounding the arrest, that the controlled substance or substances were possessed with the purpose of selling or otherwise dispensing. It may be inferred from circumstances indicating a casual exchange among individuals of a small amount of a controlled substance or substances that the controlled substance or substances so exchanged were possessed not with the purpose of selling or otherwise dispensing in violation the offense of knowingly manufacturing, delivering, selling, or possessing with the intent to manufacture, deliver, or sell the controlled substance. Such inferences must be transmitted to the jury by the trial judge's charge, and the jury considers the inferences along with the nature of the substance possessed when affixing the penalty. This bill creates an exception to the inferences to prohibit inferences of the intent to sell or otherwise dispense solely from possession or casual exchange of less than one ounce of marijuana; however, other relevant facts surrounding the arrest may be used to infer such intent.