As more states legalize and tax the sale of marijuana, it’s time that Wisconsinites recognize the harm of punitive drug laws that primarily impact young African American men and use precious law enforcement resources.
Milwaukee has taken steps to address the problem, but there’s still more that we can do, according to findings presented in a recent study by the nonpartisan and highly respected Public Policy Forum (PPF).
Last year, the Milwaukee Common Council significantly dropped the fine for first-time possession of a small amount of marijuana to a maximum of $50. Despite this decrease in Milwaukee’s maximum fine, possession of any quantity of a controlled substance is still a violation of state law and there are various other ramifications. It’s too early to know the impact of the new municipal ordinance, but the PPF found that these simple possession tickets had been declining for the past few years. That said, those who did receive them are disproportionately young, low-income African American men.
Although the city seems to be moving toward a more permissive view of personal marijuana use, state law hasn’t changed even in cases of small amounts of marijuana with maximum fines of $50 or less. As the study noted, law enforcement in Wisconsin can’t write a simple ticket on the street for these minor violations. In accordance with state law, police must arrest those apprehended with a controlled substance, take the offender to the district station, fingerprint them and collect other identifying data before writing a ticket. The PPF found that each arrest uses up about four hours of a police officer’s time—and two officers are almost always utilized in each arrest. Although the Milwaukee Police Department wouldn’t save a lot of money by writing tickets on the spot for simple possession, because officers aren’t writing a lot of these tickets, PPF noted that allowing cops to forgo the arrest and trip to the station for these small violations could help to improve police-community relations.
PPF found that Chicago police have the ability to write tickets on the spot for simple marijuana possession. Perhaps Wisconsin lawmakers should follow their lead and recognize the harm posed by outdated and discriminatory drug laws that disproportionately punish young African American men while the same behavior is legal—even taxed—in other states.
