New Marijuana Law Exacerbates Jail Problem

In March of this year I, along with Vice Mayor Tarbell, cast the two lone votes against an ordinance that criminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Just to be clear the vote in March of 2007 made the law permanent after it was instituted on a trial basis the year before—a decision I also opposed. Though many who claimed I was being soft on crime viewed my position as unpopular at the time—I stand by my vote. In fact the recent debate over the new jail plan only affirms in my mind that I made the right decision.

My position on the matter is not a philosophical statement about illegal drugs by any means. As a politician I am happy to “go out on a limb” and say that I am against the buying, selling, trafficking and use of illegal drugs. They hurt those who use them and the families and friends who care about those involved with illegal drugs. Rather my position on the matter of criminalizing small amounts of marijuana is a practical one.

Unfortunately throughout the City many violent offenders are arrested on a regular basis for a myriad of heinous offenses. The reality is that many of them are let out of prison early because of a shortage of jail space. Given this problem it makes little sense to me to pass a law, or rather make a law permanent, which inevitably will crowd our jails with non-violent offenders. Generally I view those caught with less than 200 grams of marijuana as less violent that those who are caught with large amounts and are likely trafficking for example. This also applies to those who commit more serious crimes such as rape, robbery, or assault with a deadly weapon.

This logic is a big part of the movement in the 60’s, which sought to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. I would rather spend our limited resources going after those trafficking the drugs on a large scale. These are the folks most likely to be involved in violent activities in the first place.

Regardless of your position on the matter of the new safety plan, which includes a tax increase, I do believe that there is a jail space problem in Hamilton County. It is incumbent upon us as City leaders to help the problem in the short term. One way we can do this is by focusing our enforcement activities on finding the most violent criminals and making sure they are locked up for long periods of time.