Stoner News; Washington DC
Things are really beginning to change in the world regarding marijuana. With Colorado and Washington setting the bar for the industry extremely high (no pun intended), there’s quite a few other states that are interested in seeing where the road will take us. Even though the laws are still fairly new, there are many states that are rethinking their cannabis laws, including the place where all of the unfair marijuana laws are made, Washington DC.
Last week, on Tuesday, the city council voted to decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis. Mayor Vincent Gray himself supports the measure and is expected to sign it once it passes his desk. With the current penalties including jail time for up to six months as well as a fine of up to $1,000 for any amount of pot, the decriminalization is sure to cut down on unnecessary arrests of nonviolent “criminals” and let the police pay more attention to pressing matters. The new measure that was passed on Tuesday will only let offenders off with a warning or a $25 fine, a considerably lighter penalty then the previous law stated.
Washington DC is currently the location with the highest arrest rate of marijuana possession in the entire country. Also, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, 91% of the arrests made for marijuana in the district are black, leading many stoners to believe that Washington DC is somewhere to stay extremely far away from. Hopefully with this new measure, the stoners who live in this area of the states will be able to smoke a little easier, knowing that they aren’t in as much of a risky situation as they were previously.
As always, there’s still no real logic as to why the plant is illegal. It is a plant, something produced by nature. The legalization laws that are happening, while somewhat beneficial, are still very new and unsure. Remember to pay attention to state laws when traveling and to remember that not everywhere is as welcoming as Colorado, California, Washington, and other states that are beginning to allow the use of cannabis for everyone. 2014 is going to be a huge year for the cannabis industry and the snowball is already rolling pretty fast, for it only being March. Just wait and see what else this year holds for our good friend Mary Jane.
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