Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jan 2016
Source: Gainesville Sun, The (FL)
Copyright: 2016 The Gainesville Sun
Contact:  http://www.gainesville.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/163

ALTERNATIVES TO MARIJUANA ARRESTS

Alachua County officials are heading in the right direction by 
creating alternatives to arresting people caught with small amounts 
of marijuana.

The police departments of the county's municipalities and college 
campuses, along with officials in other counties and statewide, 
should get on board with such an approach.

The County Commission voted 4-0 on Tuesday to move forward with an 
ordinance that would allow civil citations to be issued to someone 
caught with 20 grams of marijuana or less. The citations are an 
alternative to an arrest or issuing a notice to appear in court.

The latter choices carry a penalty of up to a year in jail and a 
$1,000 fine - as well as a criminal record and the possible loss of a 
driver's license, repercussions that make it harder to get and keep jobs.

Even if the commission creates an ordinance, it can't force Sheriff 
Sadie Darnell or her deputies to issue civil citations. The county 
attorney found the Sheriff's Office would still have discretion on 
those decisions.

The good news is Darnell is open to the civil citation ordinance, 
according to a Sheriff's Office spokesman. In fact, her deputies has 
already been taking a more reasonable approach to minor marijuana arrests.

Deputies issued warnings in nearly a third of the 448 cases in 2013 
and 2014 in which misdemeanor marijuana possession was the only 
criminal violation, according to the Sheriff's Office. Arrests were 
made in a little more than 10 percent of those cases.

Warnings might actually be preferable to civil citations. A citation 
carries a fine and is like a traffic ticket that someone can 
challenge, but typically doesn't. That might lead to easily 
searchable record of the violation that poses problems for future employment.

The public defender also doesn't offer help on civil citations. 
First-time offenders might be able to get a criminal case for minor 
marijuana possession dropped or enter a deferred prosecution 
agreement that removes it from their record if they stay out of trouble.

The best way to address the issue would be for the state to 
decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. That is 
probably too much to expect, given the Legislature's inability to 
properly legalize even a low-potency strain of marijuana that isn't smoked.

The Charlotte's Web strain has been effective in helping children 
with seizures. Yet two years after state lawmakers legalized it, 
regulatory hurdles remain to making it available.

Lawmakers are considering a measure this session to expand the Right 
to Try law, allowing patients with terminal illnesses to use 
high-potency strains of pot. Backers of a medical marijuana amendment 
are also making another push to place it on the ballot.

Cancer patients and others suffering serious illnesses shouldn't face 
arrest for a treatment that lacks the risks of overdose and addiction 
that come with legal painkillers. The same goes for other marijuana users.

The civil citation proposal is imperfect, but would allow the 
resources of police and the courts to concentrate more on violent 
crime and other serious offenses. Already Miami-Dade, Brown and Palm 
Beach counties as well as the cities of Miami Beach, West Palm Beach 
and others have implemented similar ordinances.

County Commissioner Robert Hutchinson initially raised the marijuana 
issue and battled with the sheriff as it related to her budget. 
Having them both on the same page now is a welcome development.

The police departments of the local municipalities that have them and 
the University of Florida and Santa Fe College should look into 
joining the county in taking a better approach to the issue. A minor 
marijuana arrest shouldn't wreck someone's life, no matter where the 
person is caught.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom