Rhode Island Senate panel recommends decriminalization of marijuana

(Providence Journal) PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A state Senate commission has recommended the decriminalization of an ounce or less of marijuana.

The report suggests that Rhode Island take its lead from Massachusetts, where anyone 18 or older who is caught with an ounce or less of marijuana is required to pay a $100 civil fine “that goes directly to the municipality in which the penalty was issued.”Under current law, possession of any amount of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by a minimum fine of $200, a maximum fine of $500, and up to a year in jail, although the commission heard repeatedly that few people go to jail for marijuana possession alone.

The report notes that there were 2,546 arrests by state, local, airport and University of Rhode Island police for first-offense possession of marijuana last year.Despite testimony to the contrary from prosecutors, it also suggests that 399 people have gone to jail since 2007 for 3 1/2 months each, on average, for first-offense possession. It said the majority of jailed marijuana offenders were white.

Folks may think California, Oregon, or even Vermont may be the cannabis-use capital of America, but it is actually Rhode Island, where over 16% of people there have used cannabis in the past year.

Decriminalization, while commendable, doesn’t nearly go far enough.  It is like stopping the bleeding of a car accident victim when what is required is emergency surgery.  It is good that people possessing personal amounts of marijuana won’t be arrested, but it does nothing to stem the crime and violence inherent in the illicit production and trafficking of cannabis.  Some would argue that it may make those problems worse by providing a newly-emboldened cannabis consumer more willing to purchase the contraband cannabis, thereby adding support to the illegal growers and sellers.

And decriminalization still maintains a punishment – a fine – for an adult decision that harms no one and should be none of the government’s business.  It’s a decent baby step in the right direction, but we can’t truly eliminate the harms of prohibition without repealing it fully.