City State Attorney, Marilyn Mosby, is making major changes to the justice system in the City of Baltimore. In a statement released on Tuesday, Mosby revealed that marijuana possession will no longer be prosecuted in the city, regardless of the quality or criminal history, as she highlighted the racial disparities in the arrest rates between black and white users.
“No one who is serious about public safety can honestly say that spending resources to jail people for marijuana use is a smart way to use our limited time and money,” Mosby said, adding that the office will continue to prosecute distribution, if there is “articulated evidence of intent to distribute beyond the mere fact of possession of it.”
“For far too long, we have sat back and idly watched certain communities and families literally destroyed by the failed policies of the so-called ‘war on drugs,” Mosby continued, as her office announced its plan to file a “writ of form” notice to seek to vacate over 1,000 convictions in circuit courts and nearly 4,000 in district courts dating back to 2011, CBS Local reports. “The effects of these failed policies have been especially dire for cities like Baltimore where, for decades, we’ve criminalized what is now considered a public health crisis.”
“As your state’s attorney,” Mosby continued. “I pledge to institute change and refuse to stand by and be a facilitator of injustice and inequality when it is clear that we can be so much smarter and do so much more on behalf of the people that we serve.”
Meanwhile, Baltimore Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle released a statement, saying, “Baltimore Police will continue to make arrests for illegal marijuana possessional unless and until the state legislature changes the law regarding marijuana possession,” as the drug remains illegal in the state.
