Why wait until November? Tell the Detroit City Council to remove criminal penalties for marijuana possession today!

Published: June 10, 2010

By now you’ve probably heard that the Coalition for a Safer Detroit, led by Detroit-area activist Tim Beck, has gathered the requisite number of signatures to qualify an initiative for the November city ballot that would amend the Detroit code to remove criminal penalties for the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana on private property. What you may not know is that before the initiative heads to the ballot in November, the Detroit City Council will have the chance to adopt the ordinance legislatively. The most recent reports say it’s likely to be on the agenda for their June 15 meeting.

Tell your Detroit City Councilmembers to do the right thing now. Don’t wait until November; pass this important initiative today!

Removing criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana just makes sense. There’s no sense in waiting another five months to start saving time and money by ending the wasteful practice of arresting, booking, and processing otherwise law-abiding marijuana users. This initiative would also make Detroit a safer place to live. Rather than wasting their time with non-violent misdemeanor marijuana cases, Detroit police could focus on controlling property crimes and crimes of violence.

But there’s another important reason for the council to pass the initiative now. By handing this question to voters in November the council wouldn’t simply be “passing the buck,” it would be passing several thousand of them. It will cost the city a lot of money to print and count the ballots in November. There’s a very good chance this initiative will pass, so why waste all that money on an election that will likely end in approval of the ordinance when the council can implement a good idea today? Ask them. It’ll only take a minute to use our automated e-mail program, but if you have an extra minute or two to call their offices, here’s their contact page.