|
During the last 40 years, the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan has enacted some of the most lenient laws on marijuana possession in the United States. These include measures approved in a 1972 city-council ordinance, a 1974 voter referendum making possession of small amounts of the substance merely a civil infraction subject to a small fine, and a 2004 referendum on the use of medical marijuana. Since state law takes precedence over municipal law, the far-stricter state marijuana laws are still enforced on University of Michigan property. ==Marijuana ordinance of 1972== Through the 1960s and early 1970s, as Ann Arbor played host to a number of radical organizations – including formative meetings of Students for a Democratic Society, the establishment of the White Panther Party, and the local Human Rights Party – public opinion in the city moved steadily to the left on the criminalization of marijuana possession. The ''Michigan Daily'', the main student newspaper at the University of Michigan, gained national press coverage by urging the legalization of marijuana as early as 1967.〔"Legalize Marijuana, Student Daily Asks", ''Washington Post'', 16 January 1967, p. A7.〕 However, two more specific factors pushed the city towards the eventual adoption of marijuana enforcement provisions that proved to be among the most liberal in the country. The first factor was local reaction to the state penalties, which provided for a year's imprisonment for possession of two ounces (57 g) or less, four years' imprisonment for the sale of marijuana, and harsher penalties for repeat offenses. These penalties received national attention when poet and activist John Sinclair was sentenced to ten years in prison for possession of two joints, a sentence that sparked the landmark John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena in December 1971. The event brought together a who's-who of left-wing luminaries, including pop musicians John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Seger, jazz artists Archie Shepp and Roswell Rudd, and speakers Allen Ginsberg, Rennie Davis, Jerry Rubin, and Bobby Seale.〔Agis Salpukas, "15,000 Attend Michigan U. Rally to Protest Jailing of Radical Poet", ''New York Times'', 12 December 1971, p. 76.〕 Three days after the rally, Sinclair was released from prison after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the state's marijuana statutes were unconstitutional. The second factor was the April 1972 election to Ann Arbor city council of two candidates from the Human Rights Party (HRP), an organization that promoted local progressive and radical causes.〔Agis Salpukas, "2 Radicals Elected to Ann Arbor Seats," ''New York Times'', 9 Apr. 1972.〕 In September 1972, several months after they took their seats on council, the HRP's two council members spearheaded a bill that would reduce city penalties for possession of less than two ounces of marijuana to a $5 civil-infraction ticket. (The city penalty had previously been identical to the state penalty.) City police would then charge violators under the city ordinance rather than the state statute. The HRP representatives, by garnering the support of Democratic council members, quickly managed to pass the ordinance over the objections of council Republicans. In supporting the new ordinance, Democratic mayor Robert J. Harris told the ''Washington Post'', "In this town, it was the only way to go. ... We've made a great effort to get a decent relationship between the kids and the cops. Now at least we'll get the police out of the marijuana business."〔Leonard Shapiro, "Judge Sets Aside $5 Marijuana Fine in Ann Arbor, Mich.," ''Washington Post'', 22 Oct. 1972, p. G6; "$5 Marijuana Fine Is Upset By Court," ''New York Times'', 30 Sept. 1972, p. 63.〕 Outside observers characterized the ordinance as the most lenient in the country. In press interviews, the city attorney described the penalty as "sort of like a parking ticket", explaining that violators could mail the ticket, with a guilty plea and the fine, back to city hall in order to dispose of the charge.〔"Ann Arbor Eases Marijuana Curbs," ''New York Times'', 24 Sept. 1972, p. 42.〕 City police and prosecutors agreed to use the $5 city ordinance, rather than the still-applicable state laws, as the tool for enforcement against violators. The city police chief, however, promised to continue to pursue large-scale drug dealers aggressively, using the harsher state laws against this class of violator.〔 Shortly after the measure's adoption, the ''New York Times'' reported: "Under the trees on the University of Michigan campus, in the back rows of movie theaters – even, it is said, in the public gallery of the City Council chamber itself – young people are increasingly lighting up marijuana in public these days." However, both police and independent academic observers asserted in national media articles that the amount of marijuana smoked in the city had not increased; the locations had merely switched to include more public spaces.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cannabis laws in Ann Arbor, Michigan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|