New Orleans made history last week. In a monumental move, the New Orleans City Council put an end to low-volume cannabis possession charges. While the city alone cannot legalize recreational cannabis, they are able to decriminalize weed possession within the city bounds.
As part of this decision, the City Council also blanket pardoned approximately 10,000 people convicted for having cannabis on their person. That fact in itself is a huge deal and a big step in the right direction. This comes soon after the state of Louisiana elected to end jail time for possession of 14 grams of weed.
The major items adjusted appear to be entirely a result of the New Orleans City Council’s own and individual volition. Through their abilities, they were able to pardon a mass amount of previous cases, as well as automate the dismissal of new ones.
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Decriminalization in New Orleans
“These new policies will help NOPD build community trust and use saved manpower hours to address major issues like shootings, murders, and the overall prevention of violence in our city,” Council President Helena said on WDSU News.
Now, anyone summoned for a simple possession charge in New Orleans is swiftly dismissed and forgiven. There’s no action required or necessary by the officer involved, the accused party or the court itself. In other words, you don’t need to appear in court, nor does the officer need to file a police report.
Once again, this isn’t close to recreational legalization yet. Publicly smoking cannabis is still highly prohibited in New Orleans; even though you won’t receive a drug summons for doing so. Instead, the officer administers a ticket for violation of the Smoke-Free Air Act; being a considerably less cruel option than a drug charge.
“We must begin to rethink the historical practices that have over-incarcerated, over-fined, and stigmatized our communities for decades,” Council President Helena continued. “The time to end the criminalization of cannabis possession is now. I’m proud of what this City Council has accomplished today. This is historic.”
