All over the country, more and more areas are beginning to decriminalize. The newest proposal comes from the city of Clarkston. Clarkston has introduced a proposal that would change the penalty from incarceration to a citation and for those that have less than an ounce of cannabis. At the moment, anyone carrying any sort of marijuana could be incarcerated for more than a year and see a fine of up to $1,000. Mayor Ted Terry says they are even thinking of putting in a $5 fine.
According to Terry, he believes that giving people criminal records for non-violent drug offenses, is not right and is unfairly biased against African-Americans, who are more likely to be stopped by police than white people in DeKalb County. At the meeting, Terry gave a short testimony about how he was impacted by an arrest by Atlanta Police in 2006 while campaigning for the Sierra Club.
There were many in the crowd that thanked the mayor and the City Council members for the proposal, applauding and chanting “small town, big heart.” James Bell, who runs the Georgia Campaign for Access, Reform and Education Project and lobbies for legalization of marijuana, was also present.
“Tonight is certainly refreshing,” Bell stated. “It’s a bit of fresh air and a bit of truth that our public needs to hear.”
Clarkston Police Chief Christine Hudson supports the proposal, but still believes that $5 is too low.
“My officers are out there, they’re not out that worried about catching that person with marijuana less than an ounce,” Hudson added. “They don’t want to do all that paperwork.”
“I think you have an opportunity in Clarkson to do something that very few if any other communities have done and take a leadership role in showing them how to do it in a way, so you add more than one goal, to switch it from criminal justice to public health,” National Families in Action founder Sue Rusche stated.
All over the country, more and more areas are beginning to decriminalize. The newest proposal comes from the city of Clarkston. Clarkston has introduced a proposal that would change the penalty from incarceration to a citation and for those that have less than an ounce of cannabis. At the moment, anyone carrying any sort of marijuana could be incarcerated for more than a year and see a fine of up to $1,000. Mayor Ted Terry says they are even thinking of putting in a $5 fine.
According to Terry, he believes that giving people criminal records for non-violent drug offenses, is not right and is unfairly biased against African-Americans, who are more likely to be stopped by police than white people in DeKalb County. At the meeting, Terry gave a short testimony about how he was impacted by an arrest by Atlanta Police in 2006 while campaigning for the Sierra Club.
There were many in the crowd that thanked the mayor and the City Council members for the proposal, applauding and chanting “small town, big heart.” James Bell, who runs the Georgia Campaign for Access, Reform and Education Project and lobbies for legalization of marijuana, was also present.
“Tonight is certainly refreshing,” Bell stated. “It’s a bit of fresh air and a bit of truth that our public needs to hear.”
Clarkston Police Chief Christine Hudson supports the proposal, but still believes that $5 is too low.
“My officers are out there, they’re not out that worried about catching that person with marijuana less than an ounce,” Hudson added. “They don’t want to do all that paperwork.”
“I think you have an opportunity in Clarkson to do something that very few if any other communities have done and take a leadership role in showing them how to do it in a way, so you add more than one goal, to switch it from criminal justice to public health,” National Families in Action founder Sue Rusche stated.
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