A Memphis City Council committee voted to pass an ordinance that would decriminalize being in possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana.
The ordinance proposed a $50 fine and it may be rewritten to include up to 10 hours of community service as an additional penalty. However, nothing would go on the offender’s record. The person would only have to pay a ticket. There would be no jail time.
As of right now, if someone is caught with less than half an ounce of marijuana, it is considered a misdemeanor. An offender could receive up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
University of Memphis law professor Barbara Kritchevsky, an expert on criminal law, doubts the ordinance will affect the university because employers would still be allowed to make their own rules and regulations regarding things like alcohol and drugs.
“The fact that the criminal system is not involved just means it’s not a crime,” Kritchevsky said. “What the university does and what the police do are two different things, and it’s not like it’d be completely legal. There’d still be a fine.”
The ordinance could affect how the judicial system directs some of its time and effort. Kritchevsky said it would let police focus on other issues.
“I think it will presumably help reduce the jail population,” Kritchevsky said. “It will direct police activity to more important activities.”
Berlin Boyd sponsored the ordinance in the Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee. They voted 6-3 in favor of the bill. Joe Brown and Janis Fullilove voted against the proposal; Worth Morgan abstained; and Edmund Ford Jr., Jamita Swearengen, Berlin Boyd, Philip Spinosa Jr. and Martavius Jones voted in favor of the proposal.
The proposal still must be voted on three more times before the ordinance can go into effect. The next of the three readings will be on Sept. 6 with the final vote tentatively set for Oct. 6.
Some University of Memphis students are in favor of the ordinance passing.
“That’s the best thing in the world,” freshman Jasmine Wilson said. “It’s just a plant.”
“I agree that the penalty should be less steep. It’s much more socially acceptable now,” sophomore Johnathan Russell said. “Alcohol and other substances can be just as dangerous. This sounds like progress to me.”
According to an October 2015 Gallup Poll, 58 percent of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana.
“I think that’s great,” freshman Morgan Ballard said. “We shouldn’t fill jails with people who smoke a little pot. That’s such a minimal amount.”
Some students thought the penalty for being in possession of marijuana should depend on the intent of the person possessing it.
“They should pass it,” junior Kasey Ward said. “People shouldn’t be put in jail for just having it. It’d be different if they were distributing it.”
Some students did not agree with the ordinance at all.
“That doesn’t make sense,” freshman Brandon Gary said. “They’re being too lenient.”
