Via Shutterstock
A bill that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the District is one step closer to becoming law, as the Council approved a weakened version of Councilmember Tommy Wells’ (D-Ward 6) Simple Possession of Small Amounts of Marijuana Decriminalization Act of 2013 on first reading.
The bill, co-introduced by Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), aims to decriminalize the possession of a small amount of marijuana (an ounce or less) from a criminal charge to just a civil penalty, punishable by up to a $25 fine. The bill originally included language that would punish smoking pot in public with just a $100 fine, but an amendment proposed by Council Chair Phil Mendelson scrapped that language, watering down Wells’ original bill.
“I do not want the public smoking of marijuana around my kid — I do not,” Mendelson told his Council colleagues. Wells sympathized with Mendelson, but said “it’s also not okay to criminalize a whole segment of our society.”
Mendelson’s amendment passed with the voice vote of all Councilmembers with the exception of Wells, while all Councilmembers, with the exception of Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), voted to pass the overall bill. Earlier today, Mayor Vince Gray issued a letter with Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier urging the Council to vote in favor of Mendelson’s amendment, saying that “the current legislation inadequately addresses the possibility of widespread smoking of marijuana in public.” Gray warned that the bill could open up the return of open-air drug markets.
In a statement, Wells criticized Gray and Lanier, saying that “I am extremely disappointed that my colleagues, Mayor Gray and Chief Lanier would choose to continue the pattern of injustice by supporting these amendments. I am not advocating for the use of marijuana in public or private, but an end to the criminalization and disenfranchisement of majoritively African American D.C. residents. We need to end the disproportionate impact of marijuana arrests that keep our residents from job, higher education and housing opportunities. I will continue working with my colleagues in advance of our next vote to get this bill right.”
Hours before the Council met for the vote, representatives from the ACLU, the Drug Policy Alliance, and other organizations rallied on the steps of the Wilson Building in support of Wells’ bill. Seema Sadanandan, Program Director for the ACLU of the Nation’s Capital, told DCist that “the language in [Wells’] bill reflects the best practices from around the country,” and that Mendelson’s amendment “is inconsistent with public opinion today.” She says that more than 63 percent of people in the District support the legalization of marijuana and they support it on the basis of racial justice.
“When you criminalize public smoking, you criminalize people who would be more likely to consume in a public space,” Sadanandan says. “People who occupy a public space in the District of Columbia are most likely to be indigent and being indigent and being a person of color in D.C. are intricately intertwined.” Reports show that more than 91 percent of all marijuana-related arrests in D.C. affected black people.
A final vote on the bill could come as soon as February 18, Wells said.
