People arrested with small amounts of marijuana can still be charged with a felony in Oklahoma after the state's House of Representatives defeated legislation Monday that would have made minor possession a misdemeanor.

The House voted 84-13 against the Senate-passed bill that supporters said would help reduce court congestion and free up law enforcement agencies to investigate more serious crimes.

Opponents claimed that reducing the criminal status of possession of small amounts of marijuana would also reduce the deterrent effect of a felony charge for larger amounts of the drug.

Original Senate language proposing the change was removed before the House however members of the House Criminal Justice Committee voted to move forward a Senate bill that would make possession of an ounce or less of the drug a misdemeanor punishable by a fine and the measure's author, Rep. Bill Nations (D-Norman), told committee members he would work to restore the language when it comes up for debate on the House floor.

Nations said the bill is similar to a city ordinance in Norman that makes possession of less than one ounce of marijuana a misdemeanor. The commission said that the recommendation is supported by the Department of Public Safety where troopers would rather write citations for minor marijuana possession offenses than spend hours arresting and booking offenders.

"I'm looking for significant alternative penalties," Nations told the Associated Press.

Nations kept the measure alive by holding it for reconsideration and he plans to send the bill back to committee for more work.