DOC request one, part 1/8 - Cannabis Defense Coalition

Reclassification ofPossession of Marijuana
Under current Washington law, possessing any amount ofmarijuana is a crime. The
possession of 40 grams (1.4 ounces, roughly equivalent to two packs of cigarettes) or less is a
misdemeanor and carries a mandatory minimum sentence of a day in jail plusa $250 fine.1
In 2007,Washington law enforcementagencies reported 11,553 incidentsinvolving people
18 years of age and older in which misdemeanor marijuana possession was the mostserious
offense.2 Washington courts entered 3,638 misdemeanor marijuana convictions andimposed
roughly 16,183 actual jail days.3 Ata statewide average cost of$334 per arrest, $757 per
conviction, and$60.71 per jail day,4 Washington spent approximately $7.6 million in direct
costs on cases involving misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
In addition,misdemeanor marijuana convictions canimpose significant secondary costs such
as loss ofemployment,5 housing6 and federal financial aid for college,7 and minority
populations are arrested and prosecuted for these offenses at disproportionate rates.8
The policy goal of discouraging marijuana use can bepromoted more efficiendy and fairly,
and funds could be redirectedto the support of treatment services, by processing adult
violations administratively. The key features of such anapproach wouldinclude the
following:
• Reclassification of possession of up to 40 grams of marijuana by a person at least 18
years old from a misdemeanor toa class 1 civil infraction under chapter 7.80 RCW
• Establishment of a uniform base penalty thatcan be paidvia mailupon receipt of a
notice ofinfraction
• Transmission of collected penalties to thestate treasurer's Criminal Justice
Treatment Account, RCW 70.96A.350
• Possession of marijuana by a person under 18 treated the same as a violation for
being a minor in possession ofliquor, RCW 66.44.270(2)(a)
1R.C.W. 69.50.4014, -.425.
2Washington Association ofSheriffs and Police Chiefs, Crime in Washington 2007, anddata provided
upon request.
3Data provided bythe Washington State Patrol.
4WASHINGTON STATE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY, Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to deduce Future Prison
Construction, CriminalJustice Costs, and Crime Rates, p. 41, Ex. B.2 (2006). Figures are adjusted for 2007 dollars
utilizing the Implicit Price Deflator (GDP) rate and computations performed at
http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/.
5In re Orr, Empl. Sec. Comm'r Dec.2d 795 (1987).
«R.C.W. 59.18.075, 59.18.130; 42 U.S.C. §1437f(d)(l)(B)(iii).
720U.S.C. §1091(r).
8SeattleCity CouncilMarijuana Policy Review Panel, Final Report on theImplementation of
Initiative 75 (2007); RYAN S. KING AND MARC MAUER,THE SENTENCING PROJECT, The War on Marijuana: The
Transformation ofthe War on Drugs in the 1990s, p.9 (2005).
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