DOTHAN, Ala. – District attorneys representing just over half of Alabamians jumped into the legislative debate this week, calling marijuana a gateway drug and attempting to block Alabama from joining most of the nation in allowing medical marijuana.
Twenty-three of the state’s 42 top prosecutors, including two from larger urban counties around Huntsville and Mobile, signed a letter to Alabama lawmakers in opposition.
They urged state lawmakers to kill a bill that would make Alabama the 37th state to allow the use of medical cannabis products, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The legislation is sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson, a Republican and a physician from Florence.
But many did not sign, including the district attorneys in Jefferson and Montgomery counties and throughout much of the Black Belt.
These are the counties where elected district attorneys signed the letter:
The opposed district attorneys represent 33 of Alabama’s 67 counties and about 53 percent of the state population. The letter argued marijuana is dangerous and that there is a dishonest effort to convince the public otherwise.
“Marijuana is a wolf in sheep’s clothing… too many in the general public have been convinced that it is harmless,” the letter reads. “That is, perhaps, the biggest lie that is being perpetrated on the Alabama public today. Please don’t further the lie by voting for any form of legalization beyond the pharmaceutical remedies already available under state law.”
The bill, which would not allow any form of raw marijuana plant, or anything that could be smoked or vaped, is expected to be voted on in the Alabama House soon. The bill cleared the Senate earlier this month.
National polling from the Pew Research Center shows wide ranging support for medical marijuana legalization across party lines. Some 91 percent of Americans showed support for medical marijuana, including 87 percent of Republicans and 95 percent of Democrats.
There are two district attorneys in Jefferson County – the most populous county in the state and home to Birmingham. Neither signed the letter, but both have worked to prevent arrests for marijuana use recently.
Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice Washington announced earlier this month that she and other county officials were collaborating on a policy that would put an end to arrests for some non-violent misdemeanors, including simple marijuana possession, citing overcrowded jails in the county.
Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr, who is working with Washington on that new policy, earlier this month wrote a letter urging Birmingham Police to follow the policy, which would prevent arrests for minor marijuana offenses.
“I truly believe our limited resources should be focused on more serious offenses,” Carr wrote. “I’m not advocating the use of marijuana, just acknowledging the ability to cite and release personal use marijuana cases would benefit law enforcement, Courts, and the community.”
Carr’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the medical marijuana bill, or the letter from 23 other district attorneys.
Last week, Mayor Randall Woodfin in Birmingham pardoned 15,000 convictions in city court from the last two decades for marijuana possession.
However, Woodfin said marijuana possession remains illegal in Birmingham and he did not have the authority to change state law. Woodfin posted a petition calling on state leaders to decriminalize marijuana possession. “Put simply these prohibitions do not make our city safer and only create barriers for many in our community to earn a good and honest living,” Woodfin wrote. “One small mistake should not define an entire lifetime.”
