![\"Public](\"https:\/\/www.marylandmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/iStock-698689964-1024x499-2.jpg\")
House and Senate lawmakers are making another attempt this session to limit criminal penalties for Marylanders who use illicit drugs.<\/p>\n
House Judiciary Committee Vice Chair David Moon (D-Montgomery) and Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City) are support legislation to move first and second offenses for the possession of small quantities of controlled dangerous substances to civil rather than criminal offenses.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u200b\u201dLowering penalties for possession of amounts of drugs too small to merit consideration in a court of law would bring our criminal justice system into the 21st century,\u201d Jennifer Mendes Dwyer, deputy executive director of Progressive Maryland, said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Moon said the legislation is an \u201cattempt to codify some personal use amount limit.\u201d But he\u2019d prefer it if lawmakers focus on the idea that a public health response is better than a carceral response for low-level, non-violent possession cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to have a conversation about whether a criminal justice response is the appropriate one, so this is a first step to try and get us there,\u201d Moon said.<\/p>\n
If enacted, House Bill 1054<\/a> and Senate Bill 784<\/a> would impose fines and require referrals for drug and mental health treatment for convictions of possession of less than:<\/p>\n Penalties for first offense convictions for possession of those amounts would be subject to a $100 fine. Second offenses would be punishable by a $150 fine, excluding cannabis.<\/p>\n A third conviction for 10 grams or less of cannabis would be punishable by a $200 fine and mandatory enrollment in a drug education program and a mental health and drug abuse assessment.<\/p>\n Referrals to these programs would be mandatory for first and second convictions of small quantities of the remaining controlled dangerous substances.<\/p>\n Moon attempted to usher this policy<\/a> through the legislature during the 2021 regular session, but it died in the House Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n Under current law, possession of these drugs of any amount \u2014 excluding cannabis \u2014 is punishable by:<\/p>\n Elizabeth Hilliard, a public defender, told House lawmakers that a shift in policy would \u201c[encourage] us to view drug use as the public health crisis it is. We cannot jail away these problems, we cannot incarcerate away these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas Highdon, representing the Recovery Advocacy Project and the People\u2019s Commission to Decriminalize Maryland, told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee of his own struggle with addiction.<\/p>\n Highdon said that he developed a drinking problem in his twenties which eventually led to a \u201cfull-blown crack cocaine addiction\u201d lasting two decades.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile crack addiction was terrible \u2014 and let me tell you, it is as terrible as people make it out to be \u2014 what was worse was the policies in place that I had to deal with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n According to Highdon, his interactions with the justice system only made it more difficult to enter into and sustain recovery because of the discrimination in housing and employment that came with incarceration.<\/p>\n Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) asked why the focus should be on decriminalization of these quantities of drugs, which he said seemed like a lot.<\/p>\n Communities United representative Shaquille Carbon, who grew up in a family that used and sold drugs, said \u201cwith absolute certainty\u201d that \u201cthese are definitely 100% in line with what people who are users buy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not really consistent with what drug dealers would have in a stash \u2026 or typically have in a car,\u201d Carbon said.<\/p>\n Highdon asked the committee if any of them drink alcohol.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026when you go to the liquor store, you purchase more than you are going to consume in that one sitting,\u201d he said. It\u2019s the same with drugs, he continued.<\/p>\n Testifying in opposition to the legislation was Baltimore County Assistant State\u2019s Attorney and representative of the State\u2019s Attorneys\u2019 Association, John Cox.<\/p>\n He said that there are \u201cbenefits\u201d to using arms of the criminal justice system as a means to get treatment, including drug court.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is basically the equivalent of a traffic ticket,\u201d Cox said. \u201cYou don\u2019t even have to go to court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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