Pubdate: Wed, 16 May 2012
Source: Charlottesville Daily Progress (VA)
Copyright: 2012 Media General Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.dailyprogress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1545
Author: Thomas Silverstein
Note: Thomas Silverstein is chairman of the Board of Directors of 
Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.

DON'T SWEEP RESOLUTION ASIDE

On May 7, the Charlottesville City Council boldly recast the debate 
about marijuana policy in Virginia. The council adopted a resolution 
urging the General Assembly to give due consideration to 
decriminalizing, legalizing or regulating marijuana like alcohol. The 
council signaled that there is substantial support for changing 
marijuana laws in our community.

This development undermines claims that marijuana legalization is a 
marginal issue in the commonwealth. When future sessions of the 
General Assembly debate this issue, our elected officials will need 
to give the issue a fair hearing.

At the same time, the council declined to take advantage of an 
opportunity to make our community more just by not voting on a 
resolution to declare marijuana possession the city's lowest 
law-enforcement priority. A range of concerns about the usefulness of 
the proposed resolution and the message that the resolution would 
send to community members caused trepidation on the part of three 
members of the council. Over the coming months, the onus will be on 
local advocates to convince skeptics of the merits of the resolution. 
The council's inaction is a beginning and not an end.

Chief Tim Longo testified that the Charlottesville Police Department 
already treats marijuana possession as its lowest priority. For the 
people who were subject to those 113 charges, that claim rings 
hollow. Those who are convicted face a range of costs and legal 
disabilities that they will not soon forget. Attempts to secure 
employment may meet with disappointment. They may lose access to 
public benefits. They will face these consequences because of their 
decision to engage in an activity that a majority of Americans think 
should be legal.

If we are serious about focusing on major crimes first, then we 
cannot stop at asking ourselves whether our police are spending more 
time enforcing one law or another. We must ask ourselves whether 
there is any time that our officers are devoting to the enforcement 
of marijuana possession laws that could be used otherwise. If the 
answer to that question is yes, then the department's activities 
still would not conform to our community's public safety priorities.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom