Saturday, July 09, 2011

Philadelphia saves $2 million by not prosecuting pot smokers...

Just over a year ago, the powers that be in Philadelphia effectively decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana by offering offenders the chance to enroll in a three-hour class that would expunge the offense from their records. Not only did this give Philadelphia police more time and energy to focus on more serious crimes, it has also saved the city a pretty sizable Ziploc bag of green stuff.

"We were spending thousands of dollars for when someone possessed $10 or $15 worth of weed," District Attorney Seth Williams tells the Philadelphia Daily News. "It just didn't make any sense."

Under the program, being caught with up to 30 grams of marijuana is no longer a misdemeanor but a summary offense. By simply paying $200 to attend the three-hour class on the ills of drug use and abuse, the arrestee's record is wiped clean of the offense. More...

Don't miss:
  1. Bombay declares death penalty for drug offences ‘unconstitutional.’ 
  2. Three people sentenced to death in Malaysia for selling pot...
  3. Yong's story: young Malaysian drug offender fights for life in Singapore...
  4. Marijuana cures cancer, Alzheimer's disease and improves memory...
  5. How $31 of pot gave mom a 10-year-prison sentence...
  6. 69-year-old gets jail time for growing 2 pot plants to help wife cope with cancer symptoms....

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