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US: Pennsylvania: Philly City Council Votes To Decriminalize Marijuana Steve Elliott Hemp News Friday 20 Jun 2014 Democratic Michael Michael Nutter has until September to make a decision, , reports WPVI-TV; even if he chose to veto it, there are enough votes to override his veto. Mayor Nutter doesn't have to take any action at all on the bill, according to Councilman Jim Kenney's director of legislation, Jim Engler, until the Council is back in session in September. The mayor could either sign the bill, veto it, or do nothing, which would result in the bill becoming law without the mayor's endorsement, reports Dan McQuade at Philadelphia Magazine. The mayor's spokesman, Mark McDonald, wouldn't immediately say if Nutter plans to sign the bill. Under the measure, the police would no longer be required to arrest adults 18 and older for possessing 30 grams or less of marijuana. Possession of such amounts would still be punishable by a $25 fine. Officers could still arrest someone they couldn't "properly identify," or someone with outstanding warrants, of course, and it would not change law enforcement policy on selling marijuana, driving under its influence or possession by minors. Bill sponsor Councilman Jim Kenney said that Philadelphia is the only city in Pennsylvania that sends marijuana offenders to jail instead of giving them a summons. He said the new policy could save the police and courts an estimated $4 million a year. According to Kenney, Ordinance 140377 could cut 17,000 hours of police time, report Vince Lattanzio and Queen Muse at NBC10.com. But GOP Councilman Brian O'Neill claimed money was beside the point, and that marijuana should be opposed at all costs. "I've already heard from parents," O'Neill claimed. "They're not concerned about what it's going to save the city if their kids wind up with drug problems. And I don't want to legalize a drug like marijuana that most parents fear because they know it is a gateway drug." (Councilman O'Neill, of course, has absolutely no idea what he's talking about, big surprise there; the hoary old Gateway Theory was scientifically disproved years ago, and survives only in the aging memories of dedicated Reefer Madness warriors and those clueless enough to fall for their foolishness.) Some of the "concerns" expressed by the mayor's spokesman, McDonald, were spectacularly lame; for instance, he claimed that Philadelphia police officers would be "hard pressed" to figure out if someone is holding 30 grams or less of marijuana. (Simple math skills and a set of scales should solve that problem, even for challenged police officers.) McDonald also claimed that the police "haven't perfected" the ability to identify someone on the street without bringing them into the police station. "It does not seem fair for what most people consider a minor incident to potentially risk people's future," said Councilman Bill Greenlee, a Democrat who voted for the measure, reports Mike Dunn at CBS Philly. Councilwoman Cindy Bass, who also supported the bill, said the police department's resources should be focused elsewhere. "To spend the time and the amount of money that is really required to prosecute someone with small amounts of marijuana, while we have so many other bigger issues in the city, does seem a little bit not where we need to be headed," Bass said. http://hemp.org/news/content/pennsylvania-philly-city-council-votes-decriminalize-marijuana#sthash.9ARDUQpK.dpuf
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