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Panel Votes To Decriminalize Less Than Half-Ounce Of Marijuana
Pubdate: Wed, 01 Apr 2009
Source: Hartford Courant (CT)
Copyright: 2009 The Hartford Courant
Contact:
http://www.courant.com/about/custom/thc/thc-letters,0,86431.customform
Website: http://www.courant.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183
Author: Christopher Keating
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
PANEL VOTES TO DECRIMINALIZE LESS THAN HALF-OUNCE OF MARIJUANA
On a groundbreaking vote, the legislature's judiciary committee
decided Tuesday night to decriminalize marijuana possession for adults
18 and older who have less than half an ounce of the drug.
Under a compromise, the marijuana laws would not change for anyone
under 18, and the amount that would be decriminalized was reduced from
less than 1 ounce to less than half an ounce. The possession of small
amounts would no longer be a crime and would instead be an infraction
with a maximum fine of $250 that could be paid like a speeding ticket.
Some Democratic legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Martin
Looney of New Haven, have been pushing hard this year for
decriminalization, saying that doing so could save the state more than
$11 million in law enforcement costs annually because far fewer people
would be sent to state Superior Court to be overseen by prosecutors
and probation officials. If marijuana users were issued a ticket that
could be paid by mail, they would no longer need to go to court.
The bill passed 24-14 in the Democratic-dominated committee, and the
highest-ranking Republican who voted for the measure was deputy House
Republican leader William Hamzy of Plymouth.
Despite the positive vote Tuesday night, the bill still faces an
uphill battle as Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell opposes the
decriminalization. Rell vetoed a bill two years ago that would have
allowed the use of marijuana for medical purposes to relieve pain.
"Whether it's little or a lot, it is an illegal substance, and the
governor does not support the bill," Rell's spokesman, Christopher
Cooper, said Tuesday night after the vote.
Cooper noted that the committee vote does not guarantee that the bill
will be approved by the full House and Senate. "It may never reach her
desk," he said.
The vote marked a sharp change from the recent history of the
legislature on criminal law. Under then-Gov. John G. Rowland and the
Republican-controlled Senate in 1995 and 1996, the legislature passed
tough-on-crime laws that strengthened the death penalty and increased
penalties for criminals. The legislature is now strongly dominated by
Democrats, who control more than two-thirds of the seats and have the
most seats in the House of Representatives in more than 30 years.
Nationwide, 22 states have passed some form of decriminalization. One
of the most recent was Massachusetts, where offenders receive a civil
fine of $100 instead of being charged with a crime.
Currently in Connecticut, possession of less than a half-ounce of
marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a
maximum fine of $1,000.
The debate, which lasted more than two hours, touched on a wide
variety of opinions on crime and punishment.
House Republican leader Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk spoke strongly
Tuesday against changing the law, saying that he has seen drugs ruin
numerous lives during the past 16 years that he has served as the
expulsion officer for the Norwalk public schools. High-achieving
students who once received f A's and B's in their classes often fall
to C's and D's after they have become regular marijuana smokers,
Cafero said.
"I've seen kids who are getting high at 7 in the morning, sometimes at
12 years old," Cafero told the committee. "It ruins a lot of lives. It
ruins a lot of families."
He also reminded middle-aged legislators that they should know that
marijuana today is far more potent than the drug that was available in
the 1970s.
"What is the message that we as a legislature will send when we
decriminalize marijuana?" Cafero asked. "That sends a wrong message."
If the bill becomes law, a person driving 80 mph on the Merritt
Parkway would receive a bigger fine than the same person who was
possessing 15 marijuana joints, Cafero said.
Later in the debate, Sen. Edwin Gomes said that the speeder is
creating more of a risk, based on the number of accidents on the road.
"That person who is speeding should be fined more than someone who has
less than a half-ounce of marijuana because he is more of a hazard to
the public," said Gomes, a Bridgeport Democrat.
Sen. John Kissel, the ranking Senate Republican on the committee, said
he does not believe that possession of marijuana should be equated to
the level of a parking ticket.
"I don't know where we are going as a state," Kissel said.
"Fundamentally, I think it sets us on exactly the wrong path."
Rep. Ernest Hewett, a New London Democrat who supported the bill, said
it is essentially impossible to stop someone if they want to smoke
marijuana.
"I think alcohol is the real problem. We're just disregarding that,"
Hewett said. "I do agree with Rep. Cafero on one thing. This stuff
starts at home."
In the last high-profile debate on the subject, Rell vetoed a bill
that would have legalized the medical use of marijuana in June 2007.
Although she said that she, as a cancer survivor, had sympathy for
those who wanted to use marijuana for pain management, she said that
her sympathy could not overcome her concerns that those seeking to
obtain the drug would need to break the law to purchase it.
Looney, a chief proponent of the measure, said the bill "represents a
compassionate and pragmatic policy. Our state should not encourage
illegal drug use; however, possession of marijuana for personal use
should not leave a person with a lifelong criminal record."
The bill would cut costs for police, courts, public defenders and
prosecutors, he said. The legislature's Office of Fiscal Analysis said
the 9,928 marijuana arrests in Connecticut in 2007 represented 7
percent of total arrests statewide, and estimated 3,300 of those
involved less than 1 ounce.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin