Former Baltimore Narcotics Cop Testifies for Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana in Maryland

Tuesday Hearing on Lowering Marijuana Penalty to $100 Fine

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- A former Baltimore narcotics cop will testify before a Maryland House of Delegates committee today in favor of a bill that would decriminalize marijuana possession. The bill, HB 606, sponsored by Del. Curt Anderson (D-Baltimore City), will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee at 1:00 PM EST in Room 100.

Neill Franklin, who did narcotics work with both the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department over a 34-year career, will testify that, "The current laws force police officers in Maryland to waste hour after hour processing marijuana possession arrests. Can you imagine how many more burglaries, rapes and murders we could solve if we put these wasted man-hours toward good use? Marijuana prohibition constitutes a serious threat to public safety."

Franklin is executive director of the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international group of police officers, judges, corrections officials, border agents and other criminal justice professionals who have witnessed the failures of the so-called "war on drugs" firsthand.

The Maryland bill will lower the penalty for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil offense punishable by a fine of up to $100. In addition to Del. Anderson, HB 606 has bipartisan support from 20 co-sponsors and has been officially endorsed by the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.

Maryland spends over $236 million enforcing its marijuana laws every year, according to Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron.

Del. Michael Smigiel (R-Cecil County), a co-sponsor of the decriminalization bill, says that many cops are privately approaching him in support of the idea. "Many police who come before the judiciary say they don't want to have to spend all that time taking someone in for less than an ounce, booking them and going through that whole process, when there are other people out there that they could be spending their time on that are committing serious crimes," he recently told WBAL-TV.

The full text of HB 606 and other information can be found at http://mlis.state.md.us/2011rs/billfile/HB0606.htm

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, prison wardens, federal agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 22, 2011
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Are Drug Courts the answer?

AP News | The Columbia Daily Tribune: "JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri wastes considerable money by putting nonviolent offenders in prison and mishandling those convicted of drug and alcohol crimes, Chief Justice William Ray Price told state lawmakers Wednesday while urging for a new crime-fighting strategy.

Price told a joint legislative session during his State of the Judiciary speech that Missouri officials have spent years to get tough on crime by putting more people in prison and that the state has spent billions of dollars while crime has not been reduced. He said that requires a new technique that uses special drug and drunken-driving courts and rehabilitation efforts to cut down on recidivism of nonviolent offenders."

They have drug courts in Maryland. They are useful at keeping people out of prison, but I still don't like them. What about a policy of freedom? Why is it so hard to allow adults to make their own decisions, their own mistakes, and to hold them accountable if those mistakes infringe on the rights of others? Drug Courts are just the softer side of prohibition, a nicer fascism. And they still keep the criminal gangs in business.

Maryland's horrible marijuana laws and medical marijuana law

For mere possession of marijuana you can be sentenced to one year in jail and/or a $1000 fine. A judge could also sentence you to a year, suspend that, and place you on five years of probation with strict conditions attached (I've seen this done). For a second offense, the maximum could be two years and/or a $2000 fine if the State serves proper notice (which is always done in many counties).

Our so-called "medical marijuana law", which former Governor Bob Ehrlich (R) signed despite pressure from the Bush administration not to, hardly provides much relief to sick people. They still have to buy the marijuana from drug dealers which puts them at risk for being shot and/or arrested. If arrested, the charges are not automatically dropped. If the prosecutor insists on pressing forward (and an inexperienced prosecutor in our lower level trial courts likely would), the maximum sentence is then $100. You still get a criminal record. And if you happen to be on parole or probation then this can still serve as a violation.

Knowing this I was happy to see the headline in the Baltimore Sun this morning which read "2 bills would legalize medical marijuana". But I was not surprised to read the next line "Laws would be more stringent than other states' . . . ." Still the bills go a long way toward helping medical marijuana patients and would move us in the right direction. People with serious medical conditions would be able to get cannabis from "state-licensed dispensaries and pharmacies" so they wouldn't have to purchase from gang members. This is certainly an improvement and I hope the bill passes. It is a small step, but an important one.