Philadelphia Decriminalized Pot — And Saved $2 Million a Year

Philadelphia’s marijuana decriminalization program has saved the city over $2 million so far.

July 10, 2011

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Last year, Philadelphia introduced a program that effectively decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana by turning possession of 30 grams or less into a summary offense. They also gave offenders a chance to expunge their records entirely by paying $200 and attending a 3-hour class.

The result? The city’s saved over $2 million.

Williams, who replaced Abraham as district attorney in January 2010, has saved an estimated $2 million in the past year by diverting thousands of marijuana-possession cases into a new program that processes pot smokers quickly and leaves them with a clean record.

[…]

“We were spending thousands of dollars for when someone possessed $10 or $15 worth of weed,” Williams said of the way marijuana cases were prosecuted when he was elected. “It just didn’t make any sense.”

Approximately 4,160 defendants enrolled in the SAM program during its first year, according to Jodi Lobel, deputy of the D.A.’s Pretrial Division. “We decided to design a smarter way,” Lobel said.

Here’s hoping that other cities take note — and that the Federal government butts out of this type of experiment.

h/t Consumerist

4 responses to “Philadelphia Decriminalized Pot — And Saved $2 Million a Year”

Mr. Prosser

July 10, 2011 at 9:44 am

Baby steps, I suppose, plus a way to still hassle the users with a three hour class but there is $200 more in the treasury.
charles austin

July 10, 2011 at 12:11 pm

Well that’s one entry on the ledger, but what about the others? I would largely favor decriminalization of most drugs as a libertarian, but the argument your making for it is roughly the same as that for red light cameras, e.g., we should do it because the government makes money!
matt

July 10, 2011 at 3:33 pm

Well that’s one entry on the ledger, but what about the others? I would largely favor decriminalization of most drugs as a libertarian, but the argument your making for it is roughly the same as that for red light cameras, e.g., we should do it because the government makes money!

Only because you cannot be bothered to listen or look for yourself. There’s plenty of arguments against red light cameras but personally for me the best involve the various studies showing a higher rate of accidents after cameras were installed.

The various pros and cons of legalization have been debated on this blog in the comments section for many many years..
Jimmy Dizzle

July 11, 2011 at 7:15 pm

every 1 should decriminalize or legalize. its that simple…