[420 Girl]

In an effort to cut down on the number of marijuana-related legal cases flooding the Philadelphia court system, for the prosecution of pot heads, the city has decriminalized marijuana, making it the first city in PA to do so.

In January, New Jersey presented a medical cannabis bill to the state legislators –the bill passed the state senate (25-13) and the state assembly (48-14) discuss. John Corzine made his last act in office signing the bill into effect on January 19th of 2010. The bill’s success in New Jersey has opened the door for surrounding states to follow suite.

Of 810 New York registered voters surveyed by the Siena Research Institute, half supported the legislation passed by New Jersey.

What Philadelphia has done is decriminalized marijuana — it is not available for medical use and it is certainly not legal. Instead of receiving a misdemeanor for possession of anything less than thirty grams, Philadelphians will receive a lesser summary charge. This means that they will be slapped with a hefty fine, but the charge will not show up on a criminal record.

A major reason this local-statute passed in Philadelphia is because the court system and local prisons could not handle the large influx of non-violent, drug offenders that were processed. Before the ordinance was passed, the city of Philadelphia criminally charged and prosecuted somewhere roughly 3,000 minor marijuana offenses. Due to the fact that some drug crimes go unnoticed or ignored on the basis of racism, 83 percent of the minor offenders that were fined or imprisoned were black males.

This local statute does not however, prevent law enforcement officers from enforcing State Law. Offenders can be punished with probation, up to thirty days in prison, or fines exceeding $500 with the addition of court costs.

Supporters of the law believe that since police officers will be spending less time and resources pursuing minor substance, they can spend more time on the murders, rapes, assaults, and various other felony offenses.

Marijuana appears to be on its way to being legalized for medical use. The Obama administration has agreed to halt raids on medical dispensaries—a total of fourteen states have medical Marijuana. Pennsylvania and New York are starting to consider passing similar legislation. It may not be long till a good number of the eastern coast states either decriminalize it to clear up some court dockets, or legalize it for cancer, aids, and other tragic diseases.

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