Marijuana reform can save law enforcement a lot of time, effort, and money. A great example of that is occurring in Philadelphia. Philadelphia passed a marijuana decriminalization bill last year. As a result of the change in public policy, marijuana arrests are down 88% compared to years past. That is that much more time that cops can focus on real crime, instead of being tied up investigating someone for consuming a joint. Per Philly.Com:
Police made 63 arrests for marijuana possession between Oct. 20 (the day the new procedure went into place) and Dec. 31. There were 35 of the new citations issued in the same time period. The code violations are $25 for possession and $100 for smoking in public.
Philly420 first reported a 78 percent reduction in arrests during the first month of decrim. Now a police spokeswoman says the numbers have been adjusted down even further for simple possession. Police say they now have a new arrest code for those caught “in the act of a transaction.” Those “buyer of” weed arrests don’t show up in the possession totals.
Compared to previous years, this now amounts to an 88 percent decline in arrests. There were 559 arrests in November and December of 2013 for possession of less than 30 grams of cannabis.
This is great news for the City of Philadelphia. Imagine if marijuana was fully legalized in Philadelphia, and throughout Pennsylvania. Imagine how much money would be saved then. Add to that tax revenues generated by a legal marijuana industry, as well as the boost to local economies from the new jobs that would be created. Hopefully that day is not too far off in Pennsylvania.
