Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jan 2014
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2014 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340

POT DRAGNET A DOPEY IDEA

City Council should pass Jim Kenney's bill to treat minor marijuana 
possession like a traffic offense.

The hypocrisy surrounding U.S. marijuana policy goes all the way to 
the top. President Obama long ago admitted using the drug as a youth 
- - and recently acknowledged that its risks are comparable to those of 
drinking - but largely hesitated to advocate mercy toward anyone 
indulging in the same behavior. American states and cities now mirror 
these contradictions, spanning the spectrum from full-blown 
legalization to rearguard drug war. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is 
nonsensically doing some of both at the same time.

In 2010, District Attorney Seth Williams instituted a progressive, 
pragmatic policy of allowing those charged with possession of small 
amounts of marijuana to avoid criminal prosecution by paying a $200 
fine and attending a class on drug abuse. However, as the Daily News 
reported last year, police have continued to arrest more than 3,000 
Philadelphians a year on minor marijuana possession charges, booking 
and detaining them to await arraignment even though most would not 
face prosecution by Williams' office. City Councilman Jim Kenney has 
estimated that this occupies 17,000 hours of police effort annually.

Last week, Kenney introduced a bill to address this absurdity. His 
legislation would reduce possession of up to about an ounce of 
marijuana to a summary offense, allowing police to give offenders 
tickets instead of taking them into custody, much as they do in cases 
of traffic and other minor infractions. Offenders would then report 
to the district attorney's drug program without having to be booked 
or detained. Other large cities have passed similar decriminalization 
measures, including Chicago, Washington, and Pittsburgh.

As this violent January has reminded us, Philadelphia police have 
plenty to do without busting people for smoking dope. They have made 
impressive progress in reducing murders, which reached a nearly 
half-century low last year. But the new year has seen a rebound, with 
an average of about one killing a day.

Moreover, laws against marijuana possession are so widely flouted 
that enforcement has to be highly selective, usually with disturbing 
results. Although white and black Americans report using marijuana at 
similar rates, African Americans accounted for 82 percent of the 
Philadelphians arrested for pot possession in 2010, according to a 
study by the American Civil Liberties Union. And such disparities 
appear to be growing, the ACLU found: From 2001 to 2010, black 
Philadelphians went from being twice as likely to being nearly five 
times as likely as whites to be arrested for possessing marijuana.

As Obama has noted, marijuana can be an unhealthy habit. Recent 
research has suggested that regular use, especially at a young age, 
has detrimental effects on the brain. But locking people up has 
failed to make a dent in the prevalence of the drug, although it has 
proven to be a costly and distracting project for law enforcement.

Using all the faculties of their presumably sober minds, 
Philadelphia's policymakers should follow Kenney's lead toward a 
smarter approach to marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom