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D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says a bill being proposed in the D.C. Council today that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana is worthy of “robust discussion,” but adds that arguments in favor of removing criminal penalties for small-time pot use are built on faulty logic.
“This is a significant issue that merits robust discussion on a broad spectrum of issues, including concerns about the risk to children with increased access, the health impact of increasingly potent plants, and conflict with federal laws,” Lanier says in a statement released today by the Metropolitan Police Department. “In the meantime, it is important for the community to recognize that some of the information being used as an argument for decriminalization is flawed.”
Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) introduced a bill at today’s D.C. Council session that would reduce the maximum penalty for being caught with one ounce of marijuana from six months in prison and a $1,000 fine to $100 fine.
The District leads the United States in marijuana arrests per capita, according to a recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union. The report, which Lanier disputes, found that police in D.C. made 836 arrests per 100,000 residents during 2010. The ACLU also found that black residents are more than eight times as likely to be arrested on marijuana charges than white residents.
Wells suggests that Lanier’s statement is blowing some smoke. “The bill does not go to the potency,” he says. “It has to do with one ounce of marijuana on a person.”
Wells, who is also a candidate in the 2014 mayoral election, added that MPD is “putting resources into policing something that hasn’t gone away” in the era of the so-called “War on Drugs.”
Eight other councilmembers—Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5), Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), Anita Bonds (D-At Large), David Catania (I-At Large) and David Grosso (I-At Large)—added their names to the bill. Wells thinks he can get two readings on the measure by the end of the Council’s fall session.
But at least one councilmember bluntly refuses to back decriminalization. “If it’s against the law, it’s against the law,” Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) told reporters. She also said that even under decriminalization, fines for marijuana possession could also be seen as discriminatory, with many people being unable to pay a $100 fine.
“It’s still discriminatory,” she said. But that does not mean Alexander would be open to full legalization. “I think it should remain illegal,” she said.
