420 Warrior
Well-Known Member
It was 1975, and a teen-aged Joe Benning was playing guitar with his rock band at the home of a bandmate when police raided the home. He didn't smoke marijuana, he said, but knew some of his friends did. Benning and his friends got arrested.
Fast-forward to 2012, and Benning is a 55-year-old defense attorney and Republican senator from Caledonia County. On the Vermont Senate floor Friday, he pulled out what was a surprise to some senators – an amendment that would decriminalize an ounce or less of marijuana, making possession of it a civil penalty similar to a traffic ticket instead.
People caught in those circumstances should not have to fight a permanent criminal record as he did, he said. Nor should the state be spending resources on them, he said.
"Most of these offenders are young kids. They end up with a criminal record and are prevented from having federal college loans," Benning said.
In Benning's case, the charges were dropped and police in Morristown, N.J., told him there was no record of his arrest, he said. When he went to apply to take the bar exam and faced the question of whether he'd ever been arrested, he did some research and found what he'd been told wasn't true, he said. Benning said he had to fight to have the charge expunged.
Just what will happen to Benning's effort to change Vermont's marijuana penalties remains to be seen. The issue was tabled Friday on the Senate floor by a 14-13 vote as some members said they were caught off-guard by Benning's plan. The Senate can resume considering the bill at any time. The measure, S.138, includes numerous other unrelated provisions, such as a requirement to catalog search warrants.
"How outrageous is it to cast a vote on this without any advance warning," said. Sen. Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, who moved to table the issue Friday afternoon.
Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, said she might be inclined toward decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana, but not without hearing from experts.
"This is a major change in policy in the state of Vermont," Cummings said. "And this is a major change that hasn't been vetted. I think it's very poor policy when we make major changes as floor amendments."
Senators were split, though, as they faced competing amendments. Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell, presiding over the Senate, broke a tie vote to put the matter on hold until another day.
Decriminalization – if it were to pass the Senate – is unlikely to make it through the House. Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, said he wants more information about its impact in other states and potential effects here. He said he has told advocates for decriminalization that if that information is available, the House might consider the measure in 2013.
Smith said he would support increasing the amount of marijuana needed to qualify for felony possession, as the underlying Senate bill does.
Other proposals before the Senate seek to lessen penalties but not decriminalize possession of marijuana.
Burlington Police Chief Michael Schirling said he would oppose either decriminalizing marijuana or reducing the amount that triggers felony charges.
"We are not in favor of decriminalization of marijuana in any quantity or in reducing the felony level," Schirling said. "At the current felony level, 2 ounces, the street price for some marijuana is approaching $1,000 before it is cut up and sold off. That level already draws dealers to Vermont from elsewhere."
Schirling said he would support an alternative penalty akin to a ticket but only if it were still criminal.
Those who argue marijuana is harmless are mistaken, Schirling said.
"The trade and trafficking in marijuana at all levels brings crime and violence to each of our communities. Decriminalization will not abate those problems and may exacerbate them by increasing the frequency and severity of the drug dealing and related crime on our streets and in our neighborhoods," Schirling said.
Benning's amendment, also sponsored by Sen. Philip Baruth, D-Chittenden, was attached to a bill that called for raising the amount of marijuana that qualifies for a felony and up to five years in prison from a half-ounce to 2 ounces. Anything less than 2 ounces would be a misdemeanor subject to up to two years in prison.
Although the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote that bill, the panel voted for an amendment Friday that would go a little further in lessening the penalties. That measure called for a fine for possession of an ounce or less and would allow the defendant to go through court diversion and have charges expunged.
"It is not decriminalization but it is certainly taking jail time off the table," committee Chairman Richard Sears, D-Bennington said.
News Hawk - 420 Warrior 420 MAGAZINE
Location: Vermont
Source: Burlington Free Press
Author: Terri Hallenbeck
Contact: letters@burlingtonfreepress.com
Copyright: 2012 Burlington Free Press
Website: www.burlingtonfreepress.com
Fast-forward to 2012, and Benning is a 55-year-old defense attorney and Republican senator from Caledonia County. On the Vermont Senate floor Friday, he pulled out what was a surprise to some senators – an amendment that would decriminalize an ounce or less of marijuana, making possession of it a civil penalty similar to a traffic ticket instead.
People caught in those circumstances should not have to fight a permanent criminal record as he did, he said. Nor should the state be spending resources on them, he said.
"Most of these offenders are young kids. They end up with a criminal record and are prevented from having federal college loans," Benning said.
In Benning's case, the charges were dropped and police in Morristown, N.J., told him there was no record of his arrest, he said. When he went to apply to take the bar exam and faced the question of whether he'd ever been arrested, he did some research and found what he'd been told wasn't true, he said. Benning said he had to fight to have the charge expunged.
Just what will happen to Benning's effort to change Vermont's marijuana penalties remains to be seen. The issue was tabled Friday on the Senate floor by a 14-13 vote as some members said they were caught off-guard by Benning's plan. The Senate can resume considering the bill at any time. The measure, S.138, includes numerous other unrelated provisions, such as a requirement to catalog search warrants.
"How outrageous is it to cast a vote on this without any advance warning," said. Sen. Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, who moved to table the issue Friday afternoon.
Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, said she might be inclined toward decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana, but not without hearing from experts.
"This is a major change in policy in the state of Vermont," Cummings said. "And this is a major change that hasn't been vetted. I think it's very poor policy when we make major changes as floor amendments."
Senators were split, though, as they faced competing amendments. Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell, presiding over the Senate, broke a tie vote to put the matter on hold until another day.
Decriminalization – if it were to pass the Senate – is unlikely to make it through the House. Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, said he wants more information about its impact in other states and potential effects here. He said he has told advocates for decriminalization that if that information is available, the House might consider the measure in 2013.
Smith said he would support increasing the amount of marijuana needed to qualify for felony possession, as the underlying Senate bill does.
Other proposals before the Senate seek to lessen penalties but not decriminalize possession of marijuana.
Burlington Police Chief Michael Schirling said he would oppose either decriminalizing marijuana or reducing the amount that triggers felony charges.
"We are not in favor of decriminalization of marijuana in any quantity or in reducing the felony level," Schirling said. "At the current felony level, 2 ounces, the street price for some marijuana is approaching $1,000 before it is cut up and sold off. That level already draws dealers to Vermont from elsewhere."
Schirling said he would support an alternative penalty akin to a ticket but only if it were still criminal.
Those who argue marijuana is harmless are mistaken, Schirling said.
"The trade and trafficking in marijuana at all levels brings crime and violence to each of our communities. Decriminalization will not abate those problems and may exacerbate them by increasing the frequency and severity of the drug dealing and related crime on our streets and in our neighborhoods," Schirling said.
Benning's amendment, also sponsored by Sen. Philip Baruth, D-Chittenden, was attached to a bill that called for raising the amount of marijuana that qualifies for a felony and up to five years in prison from a half-ounce to 2 ounces. Anything less than 2 ounces would be a misdemeanor subject to up to two years in prison.
Although the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote that bill, the panel voted for an amendment Friday that would go a little further in lessening the penalties. That measure called for a fine for possession of an ounce or less and would allow the defendant to go through court diversion and have charges expunged.
"It is not decriminalization but it is certainly taking jail time off the table," committee Chairman Richard Sears, D-Bennington said.
News Hawk - 420 Warrior 420 MAGAZINE
Location: Vermont
Source: Burlington Free Press
Author: Terri Hallenbeck
Contact: letters@burlingtonfreepress.com
Copyright: 2012 Burlington Free Press
Website: www.burlingtonfreepress.com
