Justice
Baltimore Plays Catch-and-Release for Weed Arrests
The city’s prosecutors won’t charge people for marijuana possession, but police are still making arrests. Result: a hazy cannabis stalemate.
Back in January, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced that her office would stop prosecuting cannabis possession, regardless of the quantity or the arrestee’s criminal history. In her announcement, Mosby cited the “disproportionate impact that the war on drugs has had on communities of color,” and declared, “There is no public safety value in prosecuting marijuana possession.”
The announcement, coming from the city’s well-known top prosecutor, made national news. But Baltimore’s police still haven’t bought into the change: They say they’ll continue cuffing and bringing people in for having more than 10 grams of weed, even if prosecutors will drop the charges.