CALIFORNIA DECRIMINALIZES MARIJUANA POSSESSION

Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation making possession of an ounce of marijuana an infraction, much like a traffic ticket.

The legislation will not change the penalty for possession. It will remain $100. But it will save the state a lot of money. Possessors of marijuana will no longer be entitled to a jury trial or a public defender. Trials in traffic court are much cheaper and are often conducted by a commissioner instead of a judge.

While the legislation will only affect simple possession of marijuana I could not help but think about the tremendous waste of resources used in the prosecution of marijuana cases, yesterday as I sat in court watching a Superior Court judge spend fifteen minutes of his time, the DA’s time and the Public Defender’s time denying bail to a man charged with a ten dollar sale of marijuana. Of course the cost of the court and the attorneys is minimal compared to the amount it is going to cost the county to keep the man in jail until his preliminary examination. This doesn’t even include the cost of caring for the man and his family since he is going to lose his job with a construction company while he is in jail.

Of course the law may be in effect for only a short period of time. California is voting on legalization next month. But neither decriminalization or legalization will take care of the problems of the man I saw in court today.