Getting arrested for, say, a joint can be a harsh, harsh thing.
You have to get a lawyer, show up to court and, if you're not lucky enough to afford a lawyer who can get you off on some kind of technicality, you get stuck with fines, possible jail time and a blemish on your record that could bar you from certain employment, holding public office and even eligibility for student loans.
On Thursday Tampa City Council acknowledged what a pointless bummer it is to treat marijuana possession the same way it treats, say, robbery.
And so they did something about.
All council members present voted to direct city staff to create an ordinance that would treat small marijuana infractions similarly to the way it does traffic tickets or open container offenses. So, rather than an arrest, an individual caught with under 20 grams of grass would be issued a $75 ticket at the time of the bust, a fine that would grow with each subsequent offense up to the fourth one.
For the council, it was less about saving resources for law enforcement than it was adjusting punishment for a "crime" that's not really much of a crime at all.
“The fundamental problem with our current marijuana laws is that the punishments don't fit the offense," said Councilman Harry Cohen. "We are punishing people so disproportionately in relation to what it is that they're done that we've completely, completely gotten the system out of whack.”
Councilman Frank Reddick said the majority of people who've tried marijuana—himself included—did so without getting busted, while those who were caught have felt the consequences throughout their lives.
"We've made mistakes. We just didn't get caught," Reddick said. “I remember my senior year at prom night somebody passed a joint to me and I had the worst headache of my life. I told them, 'give me beer' and I haven't seen a joint since. But suppose, passing that joint around on prom night, I got caught. I would not be sitting here today.”
The policy follows similar efforts to decriminalize pot in St. Petersburg and Pinellas Counties as well as efforts to legalize medical marijuana in Florida and recreational marijuana in other states.
There were questions, of course, over how to deal with paraphernalia as well as repeat offenders, whom Tampa Police Chief Eric Ward said would go through the criminal justice system if they keep offending.
"This is not a get out of jail free card," Ward said.
The council is slated to vote on a draft ordinance on March 3.
All appear in support, except Councilman Charlie Miranda, who, while voting to advance the measure Thursday, said he's likely to vote against the actual ordinance when it comes back to council because of the focus on money.
"Either legalize it, criminalize it, but don't politicize it," he said. "I don't have the authority to do that. That's in Tallahassee or Washington."
Earlier in the meeting, council got an earful from activists on either side of the pot debate.
Defense lawyer Michael Minardi said treating marijuana use as a crime has disproportionately impacted African-Americans, whom he said are arrested for it seven times more frequently than whites. He said the impact in communities is detrimental.
“Do you understand the effects of criminal laws on cannabis in the state of Florida?" he said "You get a license suspension, punishable by up to one year in jail, a thousand dollar fine currently. You have to have multiple DUIs to have a six-month license suspension in the state of Florida with no hardship. But with one possession of cannabis charge, walking down the street, under 20 grams, you can lose your license for six months…You are ruining these children's and these people's lives forever by causing this to be [criminalized].”
Dana Moxley-Cummings, a former officer of the Libertarian Party of Florida, said she sought cannabis for a medical condition and felt like a criminal for it; meanwhile, doctors can prescribe pharmaceuticals with extremely damaging side effects.
“As my children are getting older and I see more children, I think the message that we're sending about medications, cannabis especially, is totally off-base, destroying the moral fabric of our society when we let them think that anything doctors write are good to have," she said. "I don't remember anyone having to vote on whether we should approve to give oxycodone to children. Yet we're doing that.”
The meeting was at times raucous, especially during public comment and when critics of the policy spoke.
“(Twenty grams) equates to 36 joints, which, in my opinion, someone may be trafficking instead of just personal use,” said Cindy Grant of the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance.
She said she was particularly concerned with the substance's impact on developing brains. When she said she wants the maximum amount cut in half, the opponents in the audience laughed loudly.
Reddick admonished the audience.
“I'm going to ask law enforcement to remove you from this chamber," he said. "You make any additional outbursts, I will ask law enforcement to remove you from this chamber and you will not be allowed to come back in here.”
Activist Susan Long said anyone who believes the idea that decriminalization would lead to widespread, open use should just look at Ann Arbor, Michigan, which passed such a policy in the 1970s.
“You didn't see people lying in the streets smoking pot. It wasn't an issue. People just didn't go to jail for it.”
We're slow, we're behind the times, not a big surprise. I think it's time to decriminalize it."
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2016.