NOT A PRIORITY

Baltimore Will No Longer Prosecute Marijuana Possession Cases

State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said that there were better ways to use the city's “limited time and money.”

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Tuesday that marijuana possession cases would no longer be prosecuted in the city, no matter the quantity or the individual's criminal record. “We need to get serious about prioritizing what actually makes us safe," Mosby said in a statement, according to CNN. “And no one who is serious about public safety can honestly say that spending resources to jail people for marijuana use is a smart way to use our limited time and money.” While Mosby's office still intends to prosecute distribution of marijuana cases, anyone charged with distribution for the first time will be referred to a “diversion program.” Mosby, in her statement, stressed that public resources needed to be allocated to more important and serious crimes—and it was “not a close question” that marijuana possession was not the top of the priority list.

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