Pubdate: Wed, 01 Oct 2014
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2014 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Justin Fenton
Page: 1
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

MARIJUANA POSSESSION IS REDUCED TO FINE

Having Under 10 Grams Can Result in $100 Ticket, Not Jail

Starting today, you can no longer be arrested in Maryland for 
possessing a small amount of marijuana. But how the rest of that 
interaction with police plays out might depend on what jurisdiction you are in.

Lawmakers did not legalize marijuana, but made possession of less 
than 10 grams an offense that results in a $100 ticket for a first 
infraction. That means that thousands of cases each year will no 
longer lead to a criminal record.

In Montgomery County, you can avoid arrest even for an amount far 
exceeding 10 grams, if police deem your stash to be for personal use 
only. In Baltimore County, prosecutors are advising police against 
searching pockets or vehicles if they believe the person is holding 
an amount below the decriminalized threshold. And while possessing 
marijuana paraphernalia remains illegal, Baltimore police won't be 
charging people over it anymore.

Maryland prosecutors, who as a group opposed the decriminalization 
law, say the bill is rife with unanswered questions, some of which 
won't be settled until the issues reach appellate courts more than a 
year from now.

"This has opened up this huge can of worms, and these issues are 
being discussed in every police department and state's attorney's 
office across the state," said Baltimore County State's Attorney 
Scott Shellenberger.

Del. Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., a Baltimore Democrat, said one of the 
goals of the bill is to reduce racial disparities in marijuana arrests.

"The reality is African-Americans who are arrested with small amounts 
of marijuana were disproportionately affected by these arrests and 
prosecutions," Mitchell said. "You won't see the real effects of this 
legislation until five, 10 years down the road, as it relates to the 
disparities of criminal convictions."

Anne Arundel County police and the Maryland State Police say they 
have been training officers to determine the difference between 
amounts of marijuana that should trigger an arrest and amounts that 
should be let go with a citation. There are no plans for officers to 
carry scales, but they could take drugs back to police stations to 
weigh them, a state police spokesman said.

"We've been giving [officers] visuals on what 10 grams of marijuana 
looks like, feels like, so they can understand it a bit more," said 
Anne Arundel Lt. T.J. Smith. "It's a huge shift, but it won't change 
tactics as much as people think."

Prosecutors see more complications. The law carries increased 
penalties for people caught with less than 10 grams more than once. 
But people stopped for a citation don't have to show identification, 
and the law doesn't allow police to track offenses, so they won't 
know whether someone is on their first, second or 10th citation.

"They're left without a mechanism to really enforce it," said 
Frederick County State's Attorney J. Charles Smith, the head of the 
Maryland state's attorneys association. "People can give false names 
and false addresses, and what's to be done?"

The legality of smoking in public is unresolved, and the legislature 
hasn't taken up the issue of drugged driving, Smith said.

Mitchell said "there probably are" issues that need to be resolved, 
"but there is discretion among the prosecutors' offices."

The broadest use of that discretion may be in Montgomery County, 
where State's Attorney John McCarthy said authorities have taken a 
progressive view of marijuana for two decades. People arrested for 
marijuana possession there have long been steered toward diversionary programs.

McCarthy, who supported decriminalization, said he was disappointed 
that the new law no longer allows prosecutors to divert people found 
with 10 grams or less to educational programs and is also concerned 
about drugged driving.

But taking a cue from what he believes was the legislature's intent, 
McCarthy has decided that Montgomery County authorities will now 
treat all possession cases, even those well above 10 grams, as a 
civil citation offense.

"No one will be charged criminally for simple possession, regardless 
of quantity," McCarthy said in an interview.

McCarthy said people still will be arrested if there is evidence that 
they planned to distribute marijuana - he says tally sheets, baggies, 
and scales will trigger such action. He also said that county 
authorities will have "zero tolerance" for possession on school 
property, and that people suspected of additional crimes or weapons 
possession will still be charged.

That approach means that personal use of marijuana has effectively 
been decriminalized in Montgomery County.

"We're not legalizing it - we're broadening it out," McCarthy said. 
"We're trying to be more logical. I think the legislature arbitrarily 
came up with a weight."

He said law enforcement resources would be better directed toward "an 
explosion of heroin overdoses and deaths."

"Quite candidly, that's where we should be focusing our efforts" he 
said. "Our focus should be on the drugs costing us the lives of loved ones."

McCarthy said he's instructing police to "proceed exactly the same" 
as they have been when conducting searches.

The Maryland attorney general's office has opined that the odor of 
marijuana may still be used as a basis to search a vehicle. Police 
say the amount in the vehicle can't be known until a search is conducted.

But some prosecutors aren't so sure. Appellate courts in 
Massachusetts and on the West Coast have reached different opinions 
on that topic, they say.

"We would base it on the specific facts of the case," said Elizabeth 
Embry, a deputy state's attorney in Baltimore. "It's a new 
consideration. ... It's not an easy question."

Shellenberger said the rules concerning car searches should depend on 
the circumstances. Smoke billowing out of a car window creates 
probable cause to search a car, he said. But if an officer knows that 
an individual has 10 grams or less, officers "do not have a right to 
do a search" of his or her pockets or vehicle.

"It comes down to knowledge," Shellenberger said. "If you know they 
have10 grams or less, you can't go further. If you don't know the 
answer to that question, then I believe you can go further."

That's a major change for authorities who have relied on illegal 
drugs, even in minor amounts, to gain authority for searches.

Supporters of decriminalization have said that approach allowed 
officers to apply the laws disproportionately.

Embry said prosecutors in Baltimore are expecting to see more than 
6,000 cases lifted from their dockets.

Under State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein, city prosecutors were already 
de-prioritizing such arrests, she said, and the new law will aid in 
that effort.

City prosecutors will continue to handle citations involving 
juveniles, while the city law department or Police Department legal 
affairs are expected to oversee police-issued citations for adults on 
a docket at the North Avenue courthouse.

Neill Franklin, the former Maryland state trooper who is now 
executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said 
decriminalization will "free up law enforcement officials' time and 
allow them to focus on more pressing issues."

But he said legalization is the next, necessary step.

"Until we fully legalize and regular marijuana, sales will continue 
to be conducted by criminals in an underground market," he said. 
"Until [legalization] happens, we are not going to see the public 
safety benefits that are possible in a post-prohibition world."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom