“Alabama House Bill 72 makes it a crime to smoke or vape marijuana in a car with a child, starting October 1, 2026”
It is not law. Alabama House Bill 72 passed the House on January 29, 2026, then sat in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the regular session adjourned on April 9, 2026. Its October 1, 2026 start date would only have applied if it had been enacted, so nothing took effect.
A real bill that passed one chamber
HB 72 was filed by Representative Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, and first read on January 13, 2026. It would have made it unlawful for any person, regardless of age, to smoke or vape marijuana in any motor vehicle when a child is present, whether the car was moving or parked and whether the windows were open or closed. A child meant anyone under 19. Violators would have been guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, in addition to any other penalty for unlawful marijuana use or driving under the influence, ordered to attend an education course developed by the Alabama Department of Public Health — changed to a virtual class by a House amendment, after starting out as an in-person course — and reported to the county department of human resources by the investigating law enforcement agency. A second section would have required mandatory reporters, including teachers, to report a child who smells of marijuana. The House passed it on January 29, 2026, with 77 yeas, 2 nays and 18 abstentions.
29 Jan 2026
29 Jan 2026
29 Jan 2026
Where the bill stopped
The bill went to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which never added it to an agenda. The Legislature adjourned sine die on April 9, ending the 2026 Regular Session, and HB 72 died with it. It never reached Gov. Kay Ivey. The bill text does say that the act shall become effective on October 1, 2026, but that date only mattered if both chambers passed it and it was signed.
How the October date went viral
In August 2026 a Facebook graphic claimed the bill had been signed into law and would take effect on October 1. Wiregrass Daily News, WTVY and Fox10 each checked the legislative record and found the claim false. The circulating version read the effective-date clause in the bill as proof that it had passed. It also spread the reporting rule for teachers, which was part of the same dead bill.
Where the story gets it wrong
The viral posts said HB 72 became law on October 1, 2026. In fact the bill passed only the House. It died in the Senate Judiciary Committee when the regular session ended, and the October date in its text never took effect.
The posts also said Alabama teachers must now report students who smell of marijuana. That reporting duty was part of the same bill. Because HB 72 never became law, no such reporting requirement exists.
(b)(1) It is unlawful for any person, regardless of age, to smoke or vape marijuana in any motor vehicle when a child is present in the motor vehicle. (c) In addition to any other penalty provided by law for the unlawful use of marijuana or operating a motor vehicle under the influence: (1) A person who violates this section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor; (2) The court shall order the person to attend the education course developed by the Alabama Department of Public Health pursuant to Section 2; and (3) The law enforcement agency shall notify the local county department of human resources for appropriate action.
- Current status
- Never Enforced
- Penalty
- None: HB 72 never became law. As passed by the House, proposed Ala. Code § 32-5A-332(c) would have made a violation a Class A misdemeanor "in addition to any other penalty provided by law for the unlawful use of marijuana or operating a motor vehicle under the influence," required the court to order attendance at an education course developed by the Alabama Department of Public Health — a virtual class under the engrossed bill, after a House amendment changed it from the in-person course in the introduced version — and required the law enforcement agency to notify the local county department of human resources.
- Jurisdiction
- Proposed Alabama state law; passed the House in the 2026 Regular Session, never enacted.