Pubdate: Fri, 18 Jul 2014
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Emmarie Huetteman

$25 PENALTIES FOR MARIJUANA GO INTO EFFECT IN THE CAPITAL

WASHINGTON - One of the least restrictive marijuana laws in the 
country went into effect in the shadow of the White House on 
Thursday, eliciting stern warnings from the local police but good 
cheer from many Washingtonians.

"A ticket when you just have a jay or something?" said Clifford Gray, 
a lifelong District of Columbia resident who is in his 20s, using a 
slang term for a marijuana cigarette. "I'm good with that."

Mr. Gray, who spoke outside a subway stop in the Columbia Heights 
neighborhood, two miles from the White House, was reacting to a new 
District of Columbia law that reduces the penalty for having up to an 
ounce of the drug to a $25 ticket. The offense is now a civil 
infraction, like littering, which carries a fine three times as high.

An ounce can be the equivalent of dozens of marijuana cigarettes. 
Possession of more than an ounce remains a crime - an acknowledgment 
that drug dealers are more likely than recreational users to be 
carrying that much - and carries a maximum penalty of six months in 
jail and a $1,000 fine. Until Thursday, that same penalty applied to 
possession of an ounce or less.

Marijuana has been legal in the city for medicinal use since 2010.

Selling and using marijuana in public remain a crime, a fact that the 
Metropolitan Police Department emphasized on a new web page and on 
business-card-size handouts that officers began distributing. "One 
popular misconception we have often heard in the community is that 
the district has legalized the possession or use of marijuana," 
Gwendolyn Crump, a police spokeswoman, wrote in an email. "This is 
absolutely not true!"

In Columbia Heights, a gentrifying and ethnically diverse 
neighborhood, many residents were already aware of the specifics of 
the new law. Tyrone McEachin, 60, who was waiting for a bus, recited 
the details he said he had learned by watching the news: the $25 
fine, the one-ounce limit and the distinction between possession and 
public use.

"From my understanding, now a person can smoke marijuana," he said. 
"He just can't smoke it out in the open."

In light of the minor penalty, Mr. McEachin, who said he had served 
jail time for marijuana-related offenses, was one of many residents 
who saw the new law as a step toward legalization. The city's Board 
of Elections is expected to announce next week whether a separate 
measure legalizing personal possession and cultivation will be on the 
ballot in November.

Ace Parsi, 32, said he was in favor of legalizing marijuana because 
it would free the police to pursue more serious crimes. "I think we 
have a system that puts far too many people in jail for too minor of 
a crime," he said.

Marijuana possession remains a federal crime, a fact that is likely 
to cause conflicts in a city with an abundance of federal land, like 
the National Mall, the Capitol complex and monuments like the 
Jefferson Memorial. Robert MacLean, the acting chief of the United 
States Park Police, said at a House hearing in May that an individual 
carrying marijuana on federal land in the city could face a maximum 
penalty of six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

The new law went into effect at the end of a 60-day review period, 
when Congress could have overruled it by a joint resolution of the 
House and Senate - a difficult hurdle. House Republicans, who are 
unhappy with the new law, instead passed a spending bill on Wednesday 
that would block funding for it. But the measure is unlikely to pass 
the Senate, and President Obama threatened to veto it as he warned 
Congress not to interfere in the city's laws.

The law also poses challenges for the local police. Unless an officer 
believes someone is driving under the influence, the smell of 
marijuana is not considered evidence of a crime, and possessing up to 
an ounce of the drug is insufficient justification for a search 
warrant. Ms. Crump, the police spokeswoman, said officers must 
undergo training on the law before making any arrests.

City lawmakers voted for the change in March after a study last year 
found that a disproportionate number of black residents were being 
arrested under the district's marijuana laws. The city joins 16 
states that have decriminalized some possession of marijuana, 
although its $25 penalty is well below others' fines, according to 
Norml, an advocacy organization.
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