Pro-marijuana activists, backed by the director
of the `Cocaine Cowboys' documentaries, are pushing to decriminalize
marijuana in Miami Beach.
Miami Beach voters could cast ballots for Mary Jane come November
should a budding effort to decriminalize marijuana possession in the
city gain traction. In front of City Hall Wednesday evening,
the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy announced a drive to gather
signatures in support of a proposed amendment that would make "personal'' possession of marijuana in Miami Beach a civil code
violation punishable by a mere fine. "We're empowering local
government to deal with this differently,'' said Ford Banister, the
group's chairman.
Banister hopes to put the proposal before the city's voters in
November.
But already questions have been raised about the
legality of the initiative, given state and federal authority over drug
laws. Florida law says possession of less than 20 grams of pot
is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Activists like Banister argue that criminal charges for personal
marijuana possession are excessive and a burden on police, prosecutors
and jails. Banister's proposal would punish possession of less than 20
grams with a city-levied fine of $100. Norman Kent, the
attorney who drafted the proposal, said police would have the choice to
issue a city code citation or charge a subject under state law.
Not surprisingly, the movement has its critics. Miami Beach
Mayor Matti Herrera Bower said she would not support such a change in
the city's code, and questioned whether marijuana laws could be changed
in Miami Beach alone. And Bob Jarvis, a constitutional law
professor who teaches at Nova Southeastern University, said he was
"stunned" and doubted the viability of the proposal. "Even
if it got enough votes to pass, I would assume at some point in that
timeline federal officials would say, 'What the heck are you doing
here?''' he said. Banister scoffed at any skepticism, and
said ``we are prepared to defend the amendment without question.''
Prosecutors and voters have weakened laws against personal marijuana
possession in cities and towns such as Seattle and Breckenridge, Colo.,
and the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy was successful with a
similar 2008 ballot initiative in Massachusetts. However,
decriminalization proposals have never made it to a vote in Florida.
Banister's group has spent months gathering petitions in Orlando,
Jacksonville Beach and Atlantic Beach without success. Miami
Beach's charter states that 10 percent of its 42,527 registered voters
must support a ballot initiative for it to reach a vote. That would have
to happen before Aug. 20 for the amendment to go before voters in the
Nov. 2 election, according to a spokeswoman with the Miami-Dade
Elections Department. Banister said the group had about 80
signatures since starting Friday. The group may have better
luck in Miami Beach than in other Florida cities. The film studio
rakontur, which created the Cocaine Cowboys documentaries, has
backed the effort financially. Wednesday's press conference was
advertised on rakontur.com, which
once
offered visitors fake Miami Beach parking passes. Cocaine
Cowboys director Billy Corben said he reached out to Banister to
bring the decriminalization initiative to Miami Beach in part because of
its reputation as a progressive city. "Are the people of
Miami Beach ready for a sensible marijuana policy?'' Corben said. "We're
just saying let's find out.'' |
