Pubdate: Sat, 05 Apr 2014
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Section: Page 1
Copyright: 2014 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Note: Baltimore Sun reporter Erin Cox contributed to this article.

ACCORD ON POT MIGHT BE NEAR

House Panel to Take Up Decriminalization Today

A powerful General Assembly committee chairman and advocates of
decriminalizing marijuana have reached a tentative deal that would
make possession of small amounts of the drug a civil offense with no
jail time, according to sources familiar with the plan.

The bargain, which would need the approval of the full House Judiciary
Committee on Saturday morning, would avert an expected floor fight and
pave the way for a bill to reach Gov. Martin O'Malley's desk before
the legislative session ends Monday night.

Decriminalization advocates in the House of Delegates mobilized Friday
to amend a bill that, in its current form, would merely set up a task
force to study the decriminalization issue over the next two years.

Dels. Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. and Nathaniel T. Oaks, both Baltimore
Democrats, offered an amendment that would strip out the task force
language and instead make marijuana possession a civil offense
punishable by a fine. That's what the bill was intended to do when it
passed the Senate, but the House Judiciary Committee later changed it
into a task force bill.

Mitchell told the House he could not in good conscience support a bill
putting off a decision on whether to stop arresting people for simple
possession when there are significant racial disparities in how the
law is enforced.

But Mitchell and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vallario
Jr. agreed to put off a showdown until Saturday. What followed was a
round of talks between decriminalization supporters and Vallario, a
Prince George's Democrat. Among the critical players were members of
the Legislative Black Caucus, which strongly supports
decriminalization because African-Americans are arrested for the
offense at a disproportionate rate.

The compromise would give decriminalization advocates most of what
they wanted. The sources said possession of 10 grams or less of
marijuana would no longer carry a jail term and would not appear on a
person's record as a criminal offense. Marijuana possession now
carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail, though prosecutors
insist such punishment is rare.

In a concession to committee members who are skeptical about
decriminalization, advocates agreed to increase some of the fines and
require people under 21 who are caught with the drug to go to court,
where they could be ordered into drug treatment, even on the first
offense.

People over 21 found with marijuana would be given a citation that
they could prepay by mail for the first offense but on the second and
third would have to go to court, sources said. On the third, the judge
could order the offender into drug treatment or education.

The advocates also agreed to increase the fines for a repeat offense,
sources said. Where the Senate bill set a flat fine of $100, the House
plan would impose a fine of $250 for the second offense and $500 for
the third, sources said.

The House sources expect the compromise to be offered on the floor
Saturday as a committee-sponsored amendment.

Sen. Robert A. Zirkin, the Baltimore County Democrat who sponsored the
decriminalization bill in the Senate, said he anticipates his
colleagues will accept the deal and send the bill to O'Malley.

"I'm excited that this is happening. I'll wait until the balloons
drop, but it looks like a lot of members of the House worked
exceptionally hard over the past 24 hours to get this done," he said.

Though O'Malley has been cool toward decriminalization in the past,
spokeswoman Nina Smith said he is keeping an open mind. She noted that
he signed bills last year lowering possession penalties and setting up
a medical marijuana program.

That program has not gotten off the ground because it relied on
academic medical centers. The General Assembly is expected to send a
new medical marijuana bill to the governor this year, increasing
access to the drug to treat serious medical conditions.

Oaks said the statistical evidence has been on the side of
decriminalization advocates.

"Seventeen states have already decriminalized and there has been no
increase in drug use in teenagers or adults," he said.

In public hearings, the decriminalization effort ran into determined
opposition from law enforcement officials, including prosecutors and
police chiefs who warned that removing criminal sanctions could make
marijuana more available to juveniles and lead to an increased in
drugged driving.

Baltimore Sun reporter Erin Cox contributed to this article.  
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