Pubdate: Mon, 16 Nov 2015
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2015 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Colin Campbell

SCHMOKE BLAMES VIOLENT 'SUBCULTURE'

Ex-Mayor Renews His Call for Decriminalizing Marijuana in Wake of 
300-Plus Killings

University of Baltimore President Kurt L. Schmoke condemned the 
city's "subculture of violence" on Sunday and reiterated his call for 
the decriminalization of marijuana and an increase in employment 
opportunities, as the city's annual homicide total hit 300 for the 
first time since he was mayor in the 1990s.

Speaking on a panel on WMAR's "Square Off" talk show with Richard 
Sher, Schmoke called the mounting death toll an "absolute tragedy" 
and said the community must take a stand against the violence to stop it.

"It is a subculture of violence - of guys who'd rather shoot first 
and ask questions later," said Schmoke, who was mayor from 1987 to 
1999. "So, yes, there's a law enforcement component to this too, but 
there's a whole community culture aspect of it."

Baltimore must sap the money out of its thriving drug trade and give 
witnesses confidence they'll be protected if they come forward, Schmoke added.

"That's why I talked about decriminalization," he said. "But it's 
more. It's got to go to the gun violence culture, trust [between] the 
community [and] the police, this whole 'stop-snitching' business - 
where people are afraid to even give information to the police. It's 
a combination of things, but at the heart of it, getting the profit 
out of drugs is important."

As mayor, Schmoke argued for the decriminalization of marijuana, but 
the laws in Maryland and at the federal level did not change. More 
recently, the state legislature has cleared the way for medical 
marijuana and has scaled back criminal penalties for recreational use.

Liz Copeland, a political commentator who also was on the panel, 
noted the police homicide unit's low rate of solving killings in 
2015. Fewer than a third of the year's homicides have been closed; if 
that trend continues, the clearance rate would be among the lowest on record.

"People don't think the police are able to do their jobs," she said.

Copeland said she supports decriminalization of marijuana but worries 
that the drug being sold on the streets today is more potent and has 
"a lot more artificial chemistry" than in the 1960s and '70s.

"As a parent, I don't want my children to feel that they should have 
access to drugs," she said.

Schmoke responded that, regardless of what's legal and what isn't, 
education and parental guidance are paramount in keeping children 
away from addiction and on the right track.

"A lot of our kids don't go out and drink gin, for example, which is 
legal," he said. "But through public education, parental guidance, 
and things of that nature, we're able to try to reduce level of 
alcohol consumption among young people."

Drugs should be considered a public health issue, Schmoke said, 
adding that he's been riled to see presidential candidates now 
addressing the heroin epidemic, which has long affected urban blacks 
but has exploded recently among the nation's white, suburban population.

"I still think that it is a big problem that people view the drug 
problem as different for communities of color than they do of 
whites," Schmoke said. "I've heard people talk about the fact that 
heroin is now hitting 'regular people.'

"And so we've got to change the focus. If we viewed the drug problem, 
all the drug problem, as a public health problem, I think it would 
help a great deal."

Schmoke applauded Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the City Council 
for installing Kevin Davis as police commissioner and ending his interim status.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom