Decriminalization of marijuana has wide support in the United States. It is a major step forward. Individuals who possess and use drugs should not be criminalized. Our drug laws have devastated communities of color, contributed significantly to mass incarceration, and destroyed individual lives.In April 2014, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reduced the length of sentences that must be imposed for drug trafficking. The Commission voted to lower the federal drug sentencing guidelines by two levels, a sentence reduction of 11 months on average.   In July 2014, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted that its actions should be applicable retroactively.

Decriminalization is central to the current debate about the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Opponents of legalization argue that decriminalization adequately addresses the profound social injustices, especially against people of color, that have been imposed due our marijuana laws. They fail to realize that the fines that remain under decriminalization can be oppressive to the poor, that marijuana arrests fall in states that have moved to legalization. Further, the movement to legalize marijuana is prompting states who take this step to provide “reparations” through record expungement of marijuana convictions and other measures.

In recent years, public health and drug policy advocates have called for decriminalization of all drugs with Portugal often held up as a model. In Portugal, there is no punishment for drug possession, but drugs (including marijuana) are not legalized or regulated and selling drugs is still criminalized. If individuals are caught possessing less than a ten-day supply of a particular drug, they are sent to a Dissuasion Commission consisting of a doctor, lawyer and social worker.  The Commission determines if the individual needs treatment, and imposes a minor fine or community service. Treatment is available for all who need It.

Since Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001, rates of drug use have not gone up significantly, while overdose death rates, HIV infection rates, and incarceration rates for drug offenses have all plummeted.

Determining which drugs should be either decriminalized or legalized, and how access to drugs should be regulated, is nuanced and complex. There is no simple answer that could apply to drugs as varying in safety and addiction risks as marijuana, cocaine, and heroine. In his book Regulating Vice, University of Chicago professor James Leitzel goes into detail about the factors that should be considered in this debate.

It is also important to note that decriminalization on its own will not help protect people who use drugs or those with substance use disorders. It is crucial to invest in harm reduction programs such as syringe exchanges and safe consumption facilities, treatment for people with use disorders, and education on the risks associated with drug use and how to minimize those risks. However, all of those programs would be more effective under decriminalization than they would be under prohibition.

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