Marijuana may be illegal in the state of Maryland but the city of Baltimore is moving in the opposite direction. According to the New York Times, the city will no longer prosecute marijuana possession cases and will fight to drop the 5,000 already made convictions. The city's attorney Marilyn Mosby made the announcement and told the publication how the move will mend the broken relationship between cops and citizens.
Two-thirds of residents in Baltimore are Black and between 2015 and 2017 more than 90 percent of low-level citations for marijuana possession were issued to the that demographic.
“If you ask that mom whose son was killed where she would rather us spend our time and our attention — on solving that murder or prosecuting marijuana laws — it’s a no-brainer,” Marilyn said. “I don’t even think there’s a choice there.”
She added: "How are we going to expect folks to want to cooperate with us when you’re stopping, you’re frisking, you’re arresting folks for marijuana possession?”
Marilyn's move is much like Kim Ogg's in Houston, Rachael Rollins' in Boston and Larry Krasner's in Philadelphia who are all fighting to eliminate any penalty for having marijuana since it has wildly become legal in many states and foreign countries.
