Pubdate: Mon, 29 Oct 2012
Source: Detroit News (MI)
Copyright: 2012 The Detroit News
Contact:  http://www.detroitnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126
Author: Darren A. Nichols

MARIJUANA MEASURE DIVIDES DETROITERS

Possessing Less Than Ounce Would Be Decriminalized

Detroit - A proposal to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in 
Detroit has residents deeply divided over how it would affect a city 
struggling with high crime and shrinking resources.

The ballot question, known as Proposal M, would allow adults over age 
21 to possess less than an ounce of marijuana on personal property 
without criminal prosecution. It's one of six issues facing city voters Nov. 6.

The proposal splits Detroiters. Proponents say Detroit, a city that's 
among the most violent in the country and is in the midst of a 
financial crisis, no longer has the police resources to go after 
people smoking small amounts of marijuana at home.

"We don't believe that a person peacefully using marijuana should be 
treated as a criminal. Marijuana possession should not be a crime," 
said Tim Beck, chairman of the Coalition for a Safer Detroit.

But others counter that the proposal signals the city is soft on 
crime and gives in to a growing culture of acceptance about drug use 
in urban areas.

"We don't need Detroit to be any more lawless. The one thing we don't 
need is a higher Detroit," political analyst Steve Hood said.

Michigan voters in 2008 approved the use of marijuana for medical 
reasons, but parts of the law - including how the drug can be 
dispensed - are still being challenged in court.

It's taken a few years for the Coalition for a Safer Detroit to get 
the legalization issue on the city ballot.

Supporters collected more than 6,000 signatures in 2010, but City 
Clerk Janice Winfrey refused to put the measure on the ballot.

Winfrey cited a conflict with state drug laws that make marijuana 
illegal. But backers continued to press and sought court relief. A 
judge ruled in their favor in the spring.

Voters in Colorado, Oregon and Washington will cast ballots on 
similar statewide proposals this year.

Denver and Seattle have already made possession of marijuana a low 
priority. In Michigan, marijuana possession can result in a civil 
infraction, and Kalamazoo Police also have made it a low priority.

"It's nothing terribly radical. It's been done in many other cities," 
said Beck, a registered medical marijuana user who filed the petitions in 2010.

"Detroit just can't afford this type of policing anymore."

But Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown, a former 
deputy chief for the Detroit Police Department, said the proposal 
will "limit one of the tools police officers have in the tool box to 
enforce the law."

"They have the discretion to enforce it or not (now)," said Brown, 
who worked in the narcotics unit for 15 years. "I'd like them to keep 
that discretion and enforce the law as it is currently written.

"There are a lot of people that support this law because they want to 
make money off of it. ... It has nothing to do with the wellbeing of 
our community."

About 17.4 million young people over age 12 were current marijuana 
users, according to a 2010 study by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Matt Abel of West Bloomfield, an attorney with offices in Detroit who 
is helping to push Proposal M, said the effort is "one small step in 
the path toward ending the prohibition of marijuana."

"It won't legalize marijuana (totally) in Detroit," said Abel, who 
adds the proposal could help Detroit's economy by encouraging the 
creation of dispensaries.

"The problems the city has are not caused or solved by marijuana. The 
problems are the educational system and secondarily police services. 
One way to get better police services is they don't need to worry 
about marijuana," Abel said.

But community activist Lawrence Kenyatta is concerned about the 
message the proposal sends to young people.

By Kenyatta's estimate, 70 percent of young men in Detroit believe 
there's nothing wrong with smoking marijuana. He said that marijuana 
use contributes to Detroit's high unemployment rate because many 
young people are failing drug tests.

"We're opposed to having marijuana in Detroit - period," Kenyatta 
said. "We can't afford to jeopardize our young men and women losing 
employment (opportunities) because they can't pass a drug test."

Kenyatta, 56, who works with the Partnership for a Drug Free Detroit, 
is not related to Detroit City Council member Kwame Kenyatta.

Carl Taylor, professor in the sociology department at Michigan State 
University, said he could understand why people are pushing to 
legalize marijuana. They typically are people who have a job and 
understand how to handle the drug, he said.

But Taylor warned that legalizing the drug wouldn't be good for 
Detroit, which has many marijuana smokers who are underemployed and 
undereducated.

"It is something that we cannot afford because it is a major 
distraction," said Taylor, a Detroit native. "We have a countless 
number of people who all they do is smoke those trees and they aren't 
functional.

"In a city that should be focusing on strong education and preparing 
(people) for employment, marijuana is not something that should come 
into debate."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom