NORMLizer - Decriminalize It!

By Allen St. Pierre

Lest there be any confusion, NORML strongly favors marijuana legalization over decriminalization. Period.

Unfortunately, the American public and our elected lawmakers have yet to provide majority support for the concept of legalizing the responsible adult use of cannabis. Instructively, an eye-popping 73 percent of Americans surveyed support decriminalizing cannabis, while only 42 percent support outright legalization.

As popular as the legalization issue may be on America’s West Coast – particularly in the Golden State – California State Assemblyman Tommy Ammiano’s pro-legalization bill has failed to attract a single co-sponsor. Once again, the citizens are way ahead of their elected policymakers – and so, while we build support for the ultimate goal of legalization, it’s also important to support efforts at decriminalization like HR 2943, the Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults, reintroduced in Congress this June by co-sponsors Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX).

If passed, HR 2943 would eliminate federal penalties for the personal possession of up to 100 grams (over 3.5 ounces) of cannabis, as well as the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce – making prosecution (if any) for these acts strictly a state matter. Under existing federal law, defendants found guilty of possessing small amounts of cannabis for personal use face up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

Currently, 13 stateswith a combined population of over 115 million citizens, have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis. In 2007, over 872,000 citizens nationwide were arrested on cannabis-related charges, 90 percent of them for possession only. Thankfully, many hundreds of thousands of our brethren who live in decriminalized states face a fine-only citation – and are usually on their way after their police encounter – rather than being dragged off to America’s drug gulags.           

Passage of HR 2943 would provide state lawmakers the choice to maintain their current penalties for minor marijuana offenses or eliminate them completely. Lawmakers would also have the option to explore various legal alternatives for taxing and regulating the adult use and distribution of cannabis free from federal interference. So while such a national decriminalization policy would fail to address the major failings of prohibition – namely the economic costs of enforcement, including keeping a massive law-enforcement structure in place; the loss of sales taxes and licensing fees; the ongoing destabilization of international borders; and potency and adulteration issues – it’s still far better than our current system, and a significant step toward further reform in the future.

Allen St. Pierre is the executive director of NORML in Washington, DC. For more information about state cannabis laws and lobbying Congress in favor of HR 2943, go to www.norml.org.

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN THE OCTOBER 2009 ISSUE OF HIGH TIMES