With a majority of sympathetic listeners, experts and advocates of decriminalizing simple marijuana possession spoke out Monday night at a town hall meeting at the Hattiesburg Train Depot. Ward 2 Councilwoman Deborah Delgado, who has been studying the issue for the past two months, called the meeting.
Delgado has said she wants to eliminate jail time for small amounts of marijuana possession. She called the meeting to get a local perspective on the issue.
Addressing the audience of about 45 people at the town hall meeting were Jackson Councilman De'Keither Stamps, who started a similar movement in the Capitol City; Jennifer Riley Collins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union – Mississippi; Christina Dent, a conservative who runs an Internet blog advocating decriminalization of marijuana, and Greg Prine of Hattiesburg, who describes himself as a “freedom of liberty” activist.
Dent said sending people to jail for minor marijuana possessions is wrong.
“Jail is not the right way to handle it, if you think about it,” she said. “It is incredibly harmful. … We have had laws that have stood up through history. We’ve had great laws and we’ve had awful laws. I think it really helps for us to realize that we have bad laws in this generation. All research shows it helps when you correctly address an issue like marijuana use with education.”
Delgado has said suspects who do not bond out are causing a burden on the taxpayer, adding that the city already pays too much for housing people.
“I’m concerned that this country is the largest jailer in the world,” she said. “We are the No. 1 country in the world, I believe, in the way we operate in terms of the quality of life of people. But, at the same time, we jail more people than anybody else. If in Hattiesburg, we can subtract from those numbers or we can start to help to reduce the number of people that are held in jail – particularly on minor non-violent offenses – then I think we need to do that.”
Delgado stressed that marijuana use will still be illegal.
“It’s still going to be illegal based on what my proposal is,” she said, “but the penalty for being in possession of a small amount would not include incarceration. It would be a fine.”
Prine said he wants to go past decriminalization.
“What I would like to do is end prohibition all the way around,” he said. “A true crime is violence, property crime or anything like that. That’s a crime. Having a blunt in your pocket? That’s not a crime.”
Collins commended Delgado for putting forth the proposed amendment that would decriminalize – not legalize – simple possession of marijuana involving about 30 grams.
“In the United States, a black person is four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person despite equal use,” she said. “We want the City Council to understand that the amendment aligns with state law. There are lateral consequences that flow from arrests and convictions. Those consequences include loss of job, inability to be hired, suspended driver’s licenses and restrictions or actions on student loans. These things can literally derail a young person’s life.”
According to Mississippi statutes, possession of up to 30 grams calls for penalties of a fine of $100- $250. Subsequent convictions within a two-year period are punished with a $250 fine and between five and 60 days in jail, in addition to participation in a mandatory drug education program.
A third or subsequent conviction is punished with a fine between $250 and $500, and between five days and six months in jail. Between one and 30 grams kept in a car brings penalties of a fine up to $1,000, and up to 90 days in jail.
Possession of 30-250 grams means a fine of up to $50,000, and between two and eight years in prison. Between 250-500 grams bring a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year in jail, or both. Subsequent convictions may be punished with a fine of up to $3,000, up to three years in jail, or both.
