An Alabama Senate committee has approved a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis and expunge convictions for past cannabis-related offenses. The measure, Senate Bill 160, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday by a vote of 5-4.

The bill from Democratic Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton would decriminalize possession of less than two ounces of cannabis and remove the threat of incarceration for such offenses. Instead, possession of less than two ounces of cannabis would be a violation punishable by a fine of no more than $250. 

Possessing more than two ounces of cannabis would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $250 on the first offense. A second conviction would also be a misdemeanor carrying a maximum fine of $500, while a third charge would be classified as a felony punishable by a fine of up to $750. The bill does not affect charges for drug trafficking offenses or possession of more than two ounces of cannabis.

Under current Alabama law, possession of any amount of marijuana for personal use is considered a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $6,000 and up to a year in jail, including for a first offense. Possessing any amount of cannabis for other than personal use is classified as a felony carrying penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

Attorney John Brinkley told local media that incarcerating people for low-level cannabis offenses is putting pressure on Alabama’s local jails, which spend about $60 a day to keep each inmate behind bars. Under SB 160, minor cannabis possession charges would no longer subject offenders to jail time or probation.

“I think that we’re already moving in the right direction for what Singleton is interested in doing here,” Brinkley said. “And I don’t think that it’s something that’s going to put a lot of people at risk because, quite frankly, people have been using marijuana left and right and have been for generations.”

Bill Would Expunge Minor Marijuana Convictions

Singleton’s bill would also provide for the expungement of convictions for low-level cannabis possession offenses. Those convicted of possessing less than two ounces of cannabis would be permitted to petition the courts for an expungement. Petitioners would qualify for expungement if they have not had any more felonies, misdemeanors, or violations (except for minor traffic offenses) in the preceding five years.

Marty Schelper, the founder of the cannabis policy reform group Alabama Cannabis Coalition, said the legislation to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis would keep minor offenders from entering the state’s criminal justice system.

“It would lower the populations of our prisons,” she explained. “You know lives and families would not be destroyed for something that’s legal in 33 other states.”

“Somebody could get caught with just a little bit of cannabis in a small baggy, go to jail; they get caught up in the justice system,”  Schelper added.

But Madison County District Attorney Tim Gann is not sure that cannabis policy reform will have a long-term effect in reducing overall crime.

“Legalizing marijuana would take pressure off the court system on the front end,” Gann said. “But on the back end, the residual effects of another addictive substance being legalized will probably outweigh the initial downturn in cases.”

Schelper disagrees, and said, “I don’t think legalization of recreational cannabis use is going to cause more people to use cannabis. People are already using cannabis.”

A previous version of Singleton’s bill was also passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee last year but failed to gain the approval of the full chamber. With the panel’s approval again this year, SB 160 now awaits action from the full Alabama Senate.

The post Alabama Senate Committee Approves Cannabis Decriminalization Bill appeared first on High Times.

The post Alabama Senate Committee Approves Cannabis Decriminalization Bill appeared first on Paradise Found.

A story in The Telegraph said Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan would ‘effectively decriminalize’ weed. If only.

The post Is London really going to decriminalize cannabis? appeared first on Leafly.

The post Is London really going to decriminalize cannabis? appeared first on Paradise Found.

An analysis of statistical data has found that cannabis decriminalization laws reduce, but not eliminate, the racial disparity in cannabis arrests that has plagued the United States for decades. However, the reduction in racial disparity was observed primarily among adults, and the research failed to reveal a similar drop among arrests of young people.

In a study published recently in the peer-reviewed academic journal Social Science & Medicine, researchers affiliated with the University of California San Diego reviewed statistics from the FBI Uniform Crime Report from 2000 through 2019. Using data from 37 U.S. states including 11 states that passed marijuana decriminalization laws during that time period, researchers calculated cannabis possession arrest rates separately for Black and white people.

“Cannabis decriminalization was associated with substantially lower cannabis possession arrest rates among both adults and youths and among both Blacks and whites,” the researchers wrote in their conclusion. “It reduced racial disparity between Blacks and whites among adults but not youths.”

The 11 states that had enacted cannabis decriminalization measures saw a 70 percent reduction in total adult cannabis arrests after decriminalization, as well as a 40 percent reduction in cannabis arrests among young people. Analysis by researchers showed that the racial disparity in arrests of Black and white adults decreased significantly, dropping by 17 percent after cannabis decriminalization.

“Cannabis decriminalization seemed to be particularly beneficial to Blacks, who were suffering the most from the adverse consequences of criminal penalties,” the researchers wrote in their report. “Taken together, we recommend that lawmakers and public health researchers reconsider cannabis decriminalization as an option of cannabis liberalization, particularly in states concerning the unintended consequences and implementation costs of medical and recreational cannabis legalization.” 

However, the data failed to show a significant reduction in the racial disparity in arrests of Black people younger than 18 years old. The authors of the study suggested that the rate among young people may have remained steady partly because of the larger disparity among adults before decriminalization, “providing a greater room for reduction.” Among all 37 states analyzed, Black adults were on average four times more likely than white adults to be arrested for a cannabis offense, while Black young people were 1.8 times likelier to face a cannabis arrest than their white peers.

Racial Disparity in Cannabis Arrests Well Documented

The racial disparity in cannabis arrests in the United States has been well documented for decades, despite research consistently showing that the different racial groups use marijuana at a similar rate. 

In a 2020 report from the American Civil Liberties Union, researchers noted that arrests for cannabis possession were down 18 percent since 2010. But law enforcement still made six million such arrests made between 2010 and 2018, and Black people were more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than white people in all 50 states, including those that have legalized cannabis.

“On average, a Black person is 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though Black and white people use marijuana at similar rates,” the ACLU wrote in its report. “Just as before, such racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests exist across the country, in every state, in counties large and small, urban and rural, wealthy and poor and with large and small Black populations.”

“Indeed, in every state and in over 95 percent of counties with more than 30,000 people in which at least 1 percent of the residents are Black, Black people are arrested at higher rates than white people for marijuana possession,” the report continued.

Despite the evidence that shows marijuana decriminalization laws can reduce the racial disparity in cannabis arrests, marijuana policy reform alone has not yet solved the problem. No state, even those that have enacted the broadest cannabis reforms, saw the rate of marijuana arrests become proportionately equal among Blacks and whites.

The post Cannabis Decriminalization Reduces Racial Disparity in Arrests of Adults appeared first on High Times.

The post Cannabis Decriminalization Reduces Racial Disparity in Arrests of Adults appeared first on Paradise Found.

Decrying “over a century of failed and racist cannabis policies,” Elizabeth Warren and a pair of other Democratic senators are urging President Joe Biden to use his executive authority to “pardon all individuals convicted of nonviolent cannabis offenses, whether formerly or currently incarcerated.”

Warren, the senior senator from Massachusetts, made the request in a letter to Biden on Tuesday. Warren’s fellow senator from the Bay State, Ed Markey, and Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley also signed the letter. 

“America’s cannabis policies have punished Black and Brown communities for too long. Beginning at the turn of the 20th century, states enacted anti-cannabis laws to specifically target Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans,” the three senators wrote. “By 1937, the battle against cannabis—buoyed by a high-profile campaign relying on racist tropes—had escalated to a federal ban. 

“In the 1970s, President Nixon launched the War on Drugs over the objections of his own advisors and experts, spawning mass incarceration policies with devastating effects on Black and Brown families. Today, despite legalization efforts across the country and roughly equal cannabis usage rates, Black Americans are still nearly four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis possession as white Americans.”

The Democratic trio also came with receipts, pointing to the mounds of polling data showing record numbers of Americans in support of marijuana legalization.

“These policies are increasingly out of step with the views of the American public. Nearly seven in 10 Americans believe that cannabis should be legalized,” the senators wrote. “Eighteen states, two territories and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for recreational use, all in the past decade.

“Twenty-seven states—ranging from New York to North Dakota—plus D.C. have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis,” they continued. “Thirty-six states, three territories and D.C. have allowed for the medical use of cannabis. And a number of tribal governments have legalized cannabis for various purposes.”

But despite all that evidence of robust public approval for marijuana reform, Biden has thus far balked at the idea of outright legalization. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in July that the president remains opposed to lifting the prohibition on pot.

However, on the campaign trail last year, Biden had said that he supports decriminalizing marijuana, as well as expunging the records and releasing from jail individuals who had been convicted of pot.

Warren and her colleagues noted that campaign pledge in their letter to Biden on Tuesday.

“Our country’s cannabis policies must be completely overhauled, but you have the power to act now: you can and should issue a blanket pardon for all non-violent federal cannabis offenses, fulfilling your promises to the American people and transforming the lives of tens of thousands of Americans,” they wrote. 

“As a candidate for President, you argued that, ‘We should decriminalize marijuana,’ and, ‘Everyone [with a marijuana record] should be let out of jail, their records expunged, be completely zeroed out.’ The first and simplest step in the process is a blanket pardon. The Constitution grants you the authority to pardon broad classes of Americans to correct widespread injustice, as previous presidents have done. 

“Most importantly, such a pardon—combined with your leadership on an accessible expungement process to formally clear the criminal records of those affected—would mark the beginning of a reversal of decades of ineffective and discriminatory cannabis policies, allowing Americans to return to their communities, find housing and jobs and rebuild their lives without the burdens of an unjustly imposed criminal record.”

The senators called on President Biden to once and for all make good on the campaign promise he made on the campaign trail. “We urge you to act swiftly on behalf of the countless Americans punished by the country’s senseless cannabis laws,” they added. “Thank you for your attention to this important matter.”

The post Senators Urge Biden to Pardon All Non-violent Cannabis Offenses appeared first on High Times.

The post Senators Urge Biden to Pardon All Non-violent Cannabis Offenses appeared first on Paradise Found.

It’s still illegal throughout the state, but Wisconsin’s great college town has decided to stop arresting people for small amounts of cannabis.

The post Madison, Wisconsin, will stop arresting people for marijuana possession appeared first on Leafly.

The post Madison, Wisconsin, will stop arresting people for marijuana possession appeared first on Paradise Found.

Possession of up to one ounce is now just a $25 fine, and medical dispensaries should open later this year.

The post Virginia’s marijuana decriminalization law goes into effect today appeared first on Leafly.

The post Virginia’s marijuana decriminalization law goes into effect today appeared first on Paradise Found.