Mayor Vincent Gray (D) and ten members of the D.C. Council came forward to support marijuana decriminalization in the District on Oct. 23. A bill co-authored by Councilman Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) would reduce the penalty for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana from $1,000 and a possible six month sentence, to a fine as low as $25.
If the D.C. Council takes this step toward eliminating penalties for marijuana use, it will fall in line with public opinion. 75 percent of District residents favor decriminalization, and use of the drug is not harmful enough to warrant its prohibition. If Washington decriminalizes marijuana, Georgetown should follow suit and alter its student code of conduct to be in line with the District’s view of the drug.
Decriminalization is definitely progress, but it does not go far enough. The proposed penalties are so low that the District would essentially recognize that there is nothing about the use of marijuana that makes it worthy of punishment. The District must make progress beyond a trivial $25 civil fee and move toward legalization.
Georgetown must also recognize that in the event that these proposed penalties pass, marijuana usage will have an entirely new legal status. Although marijuana will not yet be completely legal, the associated fines for possession are so small that they show how legally acceptable marijuana use has become. If Georgetown lessened Student Code of Conduct punishments for marijuana possession, it would reflect D.C.’s new outlook and do a service to its students, who are also residents of the District at large.
Marijuana decriminalization would additionally help protect D.C.’s minority population, who are disproportionately affected by harsh drug laws. A report from the American Civil Liberties Union found that, despite near-equal usage rates, black Washingtonians are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana.
The unequal application of marijuana punishments to blacks demonstrates how harsh drug laws only create injustice in our legal system and harm minority communities. Decriminalization will help this problem, but only full legalization will erase it.
Decriminalization of marijuana is a bold, yet necessary step for D.C. While the District government seems to be aware of the need for loosened restrictions on marijuana, it now falls on Georgetown’s administration to be fair to its students and match the District’s openness to change its stance on drugs.
