Pubdate: Tue, 15 May 2012
Source: cville (Charlottesville, VA)
Copyright: 2012 Portico Publications
Contact:  http://c-ville.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4536
Author: Laura Ingles

CITY COUNCIL ADDRESSES MARIJUANA ENFORCEMENT PROBLEM

In the Weeds

A resolution that would have marked a shift in city policy toward 
prosecuting marijuana possession was ultimately passed by City 
Council last week as a watered-down request for the state to 
re-examine its drug policy, but that didn't keep the debate over 
legalization from raging on.

At the May 7 council meeting, the chambers overflowed with citizens 
ready to argue for or against marijuana decriminalization. After 
hearing from recovering drug addicts, attorneys, students, and 
parents, council members discussed the resolution at length. The 
original draft consisted of two parts, the first encouraging the 
Charlottesville Police Department to deprioritize by reducing 
punishment for possession and focusing on other crimes. The final 
paragraph proposed that the city address the Virginia General 
Assembly about a statewide decriminalization. It was the only portion 
that passed.

Councilor Dede Smith, who voted in favor of the resolution, said it 
will not change local policy, but is a step toward a statewide decision.

"We feel the sentencing guidelines [for marijuana possession] are 
just too harsh," she said. Smith said the operative paragraph changes 
nothing legally, but it calls on the state to do what the city cannot 
do, and is symbolic of Council's duty to represent public sentiment. 
Jordan McNeish, a Piedmont Virginia Community College student who 
spent six months in the Charlottesville City Jail for marijuana 
possession, agreed that the resolution was symbolic. But he said it's 
a good start.

"It's a matter of momentum," he said. If other Virginia localities 
follow suit and create a groundswell of support, he said, the General 
Assembly will not be able to ignore the notion for much longer.

Thomas Silverstein, a UVA law student, is president of the 
University's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The 
nationwide advocates for new drug policy, he said, are "really a mix 
of users and non-users," some who have little at stake and others who 
have found that using drugs doesn't ruin their lives.

"And there are people who have tragic stories about the damage the 
drug has done to their lives, but also recognize that the war on 
drugs is not making things better," he said. Silverstein said he got 
involved with the movement when he was an undergraduate, not for 
personal gain, but because he was troubled by racial disparities.

Matthew Fogg, a retired Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal who spoke at the 
Council meeting on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition 
(LEAP), said the racial disparities exist because law enforcement 
officials want to "build their system."

When Fogg was assigned to the Drug Enforcement Task Force, he said, 
he noticed that inner-city, low-income youth were being targeted. 
When he questioned why drug users in more affluent areas were not 
being targeted, he said a supervisor told him to "just go to the weakest link."

There's an overall fear in the system, he said, that affluent drug 
users may know lawyers, judges, or politicians who will fight back 
and ultimately shut the operation down, and the disparities exist 
because of the culture that's in place.

"Until we address the culture, I would say, yes, decriminalize it," Fogg said.

Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo reminded Council members and 
attendees that, while a lot of time and money are spent on the war on 
drugs all around the country, this particular discussion is about the 
possession of marijuana.

Longo did not address the racial disparities when he spoke at the 
meeting, but argued that the numbers implied marijuana possession has 
already been deprioritized in Charlottesville. According to the 
department's records, only 113 charges in 2011 were for marijuana 
possession, making up less than three percent off criminal charges 
for the year.

"We don't expend a lot of time, energy or resources on the 
enforcement of that law," he said.

But Silverstein argued that these numbers are deceptively low. He 
said the 113 charges do not account for paraphernalia or cases of 
seizing assets without arrest. He also compared Charlottesville to 
Seattle, a city that, after adapting a low priority policy, saw its 
number of possession charges drop from the 200s to the 100s.

"This is a city vastly bigger than Charlottesville, that, 
proportionately, made far fewer arrests, and after the policy, was 
still able to cut down on the number," he said. "That example 
demonstrates there's still room for there to be even less of an emphasis."

Opponents of the resolution said they fear it will send the message 
to children that smoking pot is okay, and that it will increase the 
number of young people experimenting with the drug.

"The research does show that there are detrimental effects on young 
people and their development when they engage in this type of 
behavior," said Longo.

Chris Winter, a Charlottesville resident and recovering drug addict, 
spoke passionately at the meeting. "I can say with conviction and 
honor that the casual use of cannabis is an obfuscation of the real 
and serious threat to all children," he said.

McNeish disagreed. "It sends the message that we don't want to arrest 
you and ruin your life just because you prefer pot over alcohol," he said.

Supporters also predicted that the ultimate legalization would make 
pot less accessible to young people and actually reduce the number of 
kids using the drug, and Silverstein said he hopes data from other 
states adapting new policies will soon prove that.

"If there are three to five years of data showing that it doesn't 
have that effect, it could really neutralize a lot of the arguments 
against it," he said.

Supporters know that new policies won't happen overnight, but 
Silverstein said if other states start to develop regulatory models 
and "don't get too intimidated by the feds," more people may see that it works.

In the meantime, proponents continue to push for support of new 
policies. During his presentation at the meeting, local attorney Jeff 
Fogel proposed that Council pass an ordinance prohibiting the 
possession of marijuana, but making it a Class 4 Misdemeanor so that 
nobody goes to jail for possession. He said until the state changes 
its policies and decriminalizes or legalizes the drug, the city can 
ensure that consequences for possession are less harsh.

It's not rocket science," Fogel said. "It's only the law."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom