Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica law enforcement officials are no longer prosecuting adults who possess marijuana in their homes, according to police data reviewed by the Santa Monica Daily Press. The moratorium on pot possession busts follows the enactment of a local initiative ‘deprioritizing’ the enforcement of such offenses.
In November 2006, 65 percent of city voters approved Measure Y, which directs municipal police to make all law enforcement activities related to the investigation, citation, and/or arrest of adult cannabis users their lowest priority. The ordinance took effect in July 2007.
Since that time, proponents of the measure report that police are abiding by the local law. Over the past two years, municipal police have not charged any adults for marijuana possession inside a private residence, the Daily Press reported Friday.
Voters have enacted similar ‘deprioritization’ measures in Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and West Hollywood, California, as well as in Denver and Seattle.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.