Pubdate: Tue, 04 Feb 2014
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Andrea Noble
Page: A12

STOP-AND-SEARCH QUESTIONS RAISED ON POT USE

Council Slated to Take Its First Vote on Decriminalization

Lingering fear over public pot smoking threatens to derail the
District's marijuana decriminalization bill by keeping intact policies
that allow police to stop and search people when they smell the drug,
decriminalization advocates say.

Key portions of legislation to decriminalize marijuana use in the
District are expected to come under fire Tuesday, when the full D.C.
Council is set to consider the measure for the first time.

Lawmakers have floated the possibility of amendments to the
legislation, which replaces the criminal penalties in place for
marijuana possession or use with civil fines. But some council members
want to amend the bill to preserve the criminal sanctions for smoking
marijuana in public.

Such an amendment would "gut" the effectiveness of the proposal, said
a spokesman for the bill's chief sponsor, D.C. Council member Tommy
Wells, Ward 6 Democrat.

"Tommy is not going to be on board with any amendment that would strip
the bill of effectiveness in actually decriminalizing marijuana,"
spokesman Jack Pfeiffer said.

Other amendments in the works would preserve police officers' ability
to search a person or vehicle when the smell of marijuana is detected,
with the goal of preventing driving under the influence. But advocates
who believe that odor alone should not be cause for police to stop and
search a person say such a change would defeat the bill's purpose.

"If they make changes that remove the language of reasonable
articulable suspicion, it will undercut the bill," said Seema
Sadanandan, program director for the American Civil Liberties Union of
the Nation's Capital. "Now you have decriminalized marijuana, but it
will only be decriminalized for people who were not getting stopped
and searched in the first place."

Marijuana decriminalization legislation was introduced after the
publication of an ACLU report highlighting the disparate rate of
arrests of blacks over whites for marijuana possession in the
District. The report states that blacks are arrested eight times as
often as whites for the offense, even though rates of use among both
races are thought to be relatively similar.

The version of the bill up for consideration would make possession of
up to an ounce of marijuana a civil offense punishable by a $25 fine
and confiscation of the drug. Anyone caught smoking marijuana in
public could face a $100 fine. Current law makes possession punishable
by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

"A vote to weaken any part of this bill is a vote to perpetuate racial
disparities and injustice," said Bill Piper, director of national
affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. "Black men shouldn't have to fear
being searched just for walking down the street, and they shouldn't
face arrest or a heavy fine for doing something that affluent whites
get away with every day."

Tuesday's scheduled vote will be the first of two before adoption of
the legislation.
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