Pot Tickets? City Says It’s About Time

Jacob Garcia looks forward to not having his tax money wasted on locking up tokers like his former self. City officials look forward to crime-fighting that targets serious criminals.

That’s the initial word in town on a new state law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drug possession.

Beginning July 1, the state will join more than a dozen others that have changed their laws to make small-time possession — less than half an ounce — similar to a speeding ticket. For first-time offenders, the penalty is a $150 fine. For subsequent offenses, it’s $200 to $500. A third offense would net a trip to a drug education program. Cops are also supposed to seize the pot. Minors would still have to deal with juvenile court for an offense; people under 21 would have their driver’s licenses suspended for 60 days.

State legislators may have agonized over the pros and cons of the law before approving it this past week. From the porches of Howard Avenue to the steps of City Hall, on the other hand, New Haveners on the front lines of the war on drugs offered only good vibes about the idea. They’d rather see the government chase drug dealers and offer drug users treatment than throw pot-smokers behind bars.

Garcia, for instance, welcomed the change in prosecutorial priorities.

“I like it,” Garcia, a 21-year-old warehouse worker who lives on Howard Avenue, said of the new law, which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he will sign. ​“I don’t think marijuana’s a problem. You don’t ever hear about anybody getting into a car and killing a little kid because he smoked weed. But every day you hear about someone drinking and driving and running over little kids or smacking into a tree.”

Most of all, Garcia said, ​“we pay taxes,” and his tax money shouldn’t go toward prosecuting potheads.

Garcia admitted he used to smoke pot ​“three to four times a day” in his late teens. Then ​“I just kind of grew up.” He got a job, worked extra hours, played a lot of baseball, and ​“stopped hanging around with people who did it.”

Tony, a 24-year-old man drinking beers with a group of people on a nearby Howard Avenue front porch, welcomed the law, too, but said he hopes Connecticut doesn’t follow California’s lead on the subject.

“Don’t make it too legal,” said Tony. (He didn’t offer his last name.) ​“I just don’t want no white folks taxing it in the motherfucking stores. It’ll be like California where they got stores and they start taxing” (like at the pictured medical marijuana outlet in Venice Beach).

Tony is on probation for possessing just ​“one bag of weed,” he claimed, ​“because of my prior history” of drug possession. ​“I had to pay a lawyer.” He said he’d rather not have to do that.

Police Impact Unclear

It’s unclear how the new law will affect police searches of people on the street like Tony. Police Lt. Jeff Hoffman, head of the department’s Tactical Narcotics Unit, said he had been tracking the bill but needed to digest the final version before commenting on how the new law might affect enforcement. Cops typically go after dealers, not users, but the latter can often get caught up in the chase for the former.

New Haven State’s Attorney Michael Dearington said Friday that his counterparts statewide will probably discuss the subject before issuing any kind of clear guidance. Small use of marijuana is ​“not the biggest problem we have” in Connecticut, Dearington said. ​“However, anything that is subject to abuse, not unlike alcohol, is not a matter we should treat frivolously.”

In any case, the new law will help efforts to curb street violence, Mayor John DeStefano argued. ​“It’s not what’s driving the narcotics trade in New Haven. It’s doesn’t drive the addictions that drive the narcotics trade in Hartford or Bridgeport or New Haven.”

He said the city needs to focus on getting violent criminals off the streets — and they’re not the people getting busted for pot possession. ​“I think it’s important to focus scarce resources where they can do the most good,” he said.

The biggest difference under the pending law is that the charge won’t amount to a criminal record, which eliminates a hurdle for anyone looking for a job, an apartment or sometimes even college admission. Under existing law, a first offense is a misdemeanor criminal charge, which carries up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine — and a permanent criminal record. A second offense could draw a penalty of five years in prison.

Amy Meek, who as the city’s reentry coordinator works with ex-cons returning to New Haven, said the decriminalization bill is in line with Malloy’s efforts to bring ​“justice reinvestment” to Connecticut. The idea is to stop spending money on people who don’t need to be locked up or monitored, and start spending those dollars on programs that help stop crime and violence. 

“We’re really encouraged by this, and hope to actually see that reinvestment,” said Meek, in charge of helping the city figure out how to integrate the average 25 felons who are released from jail each week back into the community.

Even as a misdemeanor charge, the existing penalty for small-time pot possession ​“has an impact on the people I see every day,” she said.

Increasingly, background checks and detailed descriptions of past infractions — no matter how small, or how far in the past — are an obstacle for people who need a place to work or to live, Meek said. She said she’s had elderly clients who are disabled and can’t get into public housing because of a non-violent offense that happened 30 or more years ago.

The city has tried to temper the problem with its ​“block the box” law, which bars the city and its contractors from asking potential employees about their records on job applications.

There are ​“huge repercussions” to having a criminal record, she said. That creates two problems for someone who has even a misdemeanor in their past, Meek said: first, the disclosure could hamper them. But if they don’t reveal the information and they’re discovered, that could be grounds for being fired or kicked out of an apartment.

“It has kind of a chilling effect on someone’s willingness to even apply for a job,” Meek said. ​“Decriminalizing this sort of low-risk activity has a positive effect on people’s ability to give back to society.”

Local supporters of the decriminalization legislation predicted it won’t encourage state residents to partake. Pot is still illegal.

Proponents say the new law will ease the burden on strained courtrooms. It will also bring money into the state’s coffers, according to New Haven-area state Rep. Gary Holder Winfield, who supported the bill. (Click on the video link to see him discuss the idea).

Marlboro Green?

New Haveners lounging on the Green the other day offered a variety of reasons for welcoming the new law. Denise (pictured), who’s 24 and asked that her last name not be used, said treating pot like cigarettes or alcohol — and taxing sales — could raise money for programs such as health care.

“If they [the state] sold it and taxed it, they would make so much money,” she said.

Alex (pictured with Denise), 28, had a marketing plan at the ready.

“They should just make Marlboro Green,” he said.

Josh (pictured), who’s 24, agreed that lawmakers should legalize marijuana.

“If it were 100 percent legal, the crime rate would go down, and there would be less people in jail,” he said. ​“I think it would be better for the whole community. I mean, what’s wrong with pot?”

Across the Green, Steven, 19, said he’d read enough about marijuana use to think it’s less dangerous in some ways than tobacco or alcohol. He supports full legalization for that reason, but said stepping down penalties for small offenses is a good first step.

“Maybe in 10 years, it’ll be not even a slap on the wrist,” he said.