President Obama doesn’t think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol, “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer,” he told “The New Yorker” magazine in an interview.
“As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,” the president said.
SOURCE: Matt Ackland, My FOX DC
By Mark Segraves | Wednesday, Sep 4, 2013 | Updated 7:20 PM EDT
While the D.C. Council considers decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, a group of activists wants to legalize it and they want D.C. voters to decide.
The majority of D.C. councilmembers have signed on to a bill that would make having less than an ounce of marijuana a civil offense that results in a fine — like a speeding ticket — but some activists say that’s not enough. They want to be able to grow their own pot, and they don’t want police to have any authority over it.
“People don’t want to be harassed anymore,” said Adam Eidinger, of DCMJ 2014. “People want rights.”
Supporters of legalizing marijuana appeared before the D.C. Board of Elections Wednesday to get legalization on the November 2014 ballot for voters to decide.
D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells, who wrote the decriminalization legislation, said his bill isn’t as much about pot as it is the 6,000 people who are getting arrested for it each year.
“About 90 percent of those that are arrested in the District of Columbia for using small amounts of marijuana are African-American,” he said. “We have an issue of social justice and also an issue of overuse of our courts, overuse of our whole justice system and police.”
Decriminalizing pot will lead to confusion, Eidinger said.
“People think it’s legal, though it’s not, and the black market is just going to keep having more customers, I think, because no one is growing it for themselves, and growing it will still be an arrest-able offense,” he said.
He’s concerned the legislation the council is considering will open the door to police harassing young people at concerts and other events.
“I don’t believe growing marijuana in your home is really an issue of social justice, that’s more about legalizing the substance, and I’m not sure that our city is ready to do that,” Wells said.
“Any amount of marijuana, even a roach, a partially burnt marijuana cigarette, is a criminal misdemeanor,” criminal defense attorney Paul Zukerberg said. “Means you get arrested, your name is entered into the national criminal database, you have to go to court, hire a lawyer, and you face jail time. These are things that are permanently on your record so when you’re looking to get a job.”
“It’s a barrier to getting jobs,” Wells said. “Sometimes it’s a barrier to housing, a barrier to getting student loans.”
DCMJ proposed making possession of less than two ounces or growing up to three plants civil rather than criminal offenses, punishable by fines up to $100 assessed by alcohol regulation authorities, prohibiting police from arresting or detaining those in violation in most circumstances.
Attorney General Irv Nathan found a provision requiring offenders under the age of 18 to attend a drug awareness program violates a city restriction preventing ballot items from appropriating taxpayer funds, The Washington Post reported. He also said adding marijuana offenders to the groups protected by D.C.’s Human Rights Act could be a financial liability for the city and possession would remain illegal under federal law and he is unaware of a statute allowing the council to prevent police from arresting individuals in violation of federal law.
So DCMJ pulled the proposal and will submit a new one, possibly this week, Eidinger said.
The bill to decriminalize marijuana is expected to pass the council later this year and could be law by early 2014 – about the same time voters could be asked if smoking pot should be legal in the nation’s capital.
Source: NBC Washington
On Wednesday, Councilman Tommy Wells introduced legislation to de-criminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in D.C. If passed, the drug would still be illegal, but possession would no longer mean a misdemeanor resulting in arrest.
Instead of a criminal offense, the proposed bill would make possession of less than one ounce of marijuana merely a civil offense in D.C. – punishable by a $100 fine.
17 states have decriminalized possession of small amounts of pot, including California and New York. The District has already legalized medical marijuana, but the law has not yet been fully implemented.
Marijuana activists are celebrating in the District, as 10 out of 13 members of the D.C. Council have signed on as co-introducers or co-sponsors of the bill.
“Current laws do not work, said Wells. “It takes a tremendous amount of resources from our police, from our prisons, and from our courts — really with a result that the public good does not outweigh the public harm.”
Supporters of the proposed bill including the NAACP and the ACLU, who argue that in D.C., blacks are eight times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession.
“When you have an entire population of people who are saddled with criminal records and arrest records, it creates serious barriers to employment,” said Seema Sadanandan, organizer for D.C.’s ACLU.
But the head of D.C.’s police union disputes that officers are to blame.
“This department is only 30 percent white,” said D.C. Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Kristopher Baumann. “We are not targeting people because of their race. We have a drug problem here in DC. We have a poverty problem here in DC. And if the council would start addressing those issues maybe we could fix some of these problems.”
Some opponents worry that decriminalizing marijuana could lead Congress to interfere with District home rule. Others claim this is too slippery of a slope and that it may lead to full legalization of marijuana or other drugs.
D.C. resident Vicky Watkins said: “I think they should just keep the law they already have. Don’t minimize it. If you get caught, you should go to jail.”
On Wednesday, Mayor Gray called this decriminalization effort “interesting,” and said he looks forward to reviewing the bill. MPD Chief Cathy Lanier declined to take a specified side in the debate.
Source: WJLA
WASHINGTON – D.C. council-member Tommy Wells announced new legislation to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.
His announcement followed a report by the ACLU that finds D.C. has the most arrests for pot possession than any other city in the U.S.
The district is among the top-ten in the country for the highest-number of African Americans arrested for marijuana possession.
Source: MyFoxDC
DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG
“There’s a push to decriminalize marijuana possession in the District.
Some council members are currently drafting a bill.
Ward-8 representative Marion Barry and Tommy Wells of Ward-6 are taking the lead.
It would eliminate criminal penalties for people caught with small amounts of pot or subject offenders to fines.
The legislation is expected to be introduced as early as this summer.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson doesn’t think congress will approve any decriminalization of marijuana bill.”
Source: MyFoxDC
