Washtenaw prosecutor won’t charge people for marijuana, shrooms, other psychedelics

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A strain of marijuana flower called "triple scoop" is sold at the Patient Station, 539 S. Huron St. in Ypsilanti on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020.Jacob Hamilton/MLive.com

ANN ARBOR, MI – Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit has announced his office will not charge people for use, possession or small-scale distribution of marijuana and entheogenic plants, including magic mushrooms and other naturally occurring psychedelics.

In addition, the prosecutor’s office will support the expungement of old criminal convictions arising from marijuana or entheogenic-plant offenses, Savit said.

“Many of us know people who have used substances like marijuana or psychedelics without facing criminal consequences,” Savit said in a statement. “We should no longer continue to perpetuate the cruel roulette wheel that imposes criminal consequences only on an unlucky few.

“Equally important is that we allow those with old convictions to get their lives back on track. A criminal conviction can impact a person’s ability to get a job, obtain housing, or continue their education.”

Savit, who took office Jan. 1, released a pair of new policy directives Tuesday, Jan. 12, citing the racially disproportionate consequences of the “war on drugs.”

“America’s long experiment with cannabis criminalization has failed,” the marijuana policy reads. “For nearly 100 years, cannabis has been functionally illegal in the United States — tethering countless Americans to the criminal justice system, and imposing severe collateral consequences.”

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The costs of cannabis criminalization have been borne disproportionately by Black people and indigenous people of color, Savit said.

The 2018 passage of a proposal to legalize marijuana in Michigan went a long way toward preventing harms wrought by marijuana criminalization, but it also resulted in some arbitrariness since people still can face criminal charges for possessing too much marijuana, Savit said.

“Under Michigan law, for example, a person can lawfully possess 2.5 ounces of marijuana outside of the home, or 10 ounces in the home. Possession of more than 5 ounces of marijuana outside the home, however, can still lead to criminal penalties, even for a first offense,” Savit’s directive states. “In addition, Proposal 1 does not provide for automatic expungement of criminal records for people who were previously convicted of marijuana-related crimes.”

Cannabis is as safe as alcohol, and it’s no more appropriate to charge someone for “too much marijuana” than it is to charge someone for “too many bottles of wine,” Savit said.

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“Under this policy, then, the prosecutor’s office will decline to file criminal charges for the use or possession of marijuana — whatever the amount at issue,” the policy states.

Those previously convicted of marijuana offenses should be able to clear their records and no longer bear the stigma, Savit said.

“Accordingly, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office will not contest any application for expungement where the underlying offense was for use, possession, cultivation or distribution of marijuana,” his policy states.

Savit’s other new policy directive notes the Ann Arbor City Council last year OK’d a resolution declaring entheogenic plants the city’s lowest law enforcement priority.

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Given that they are now functionally decriminalized in the county’s largest city, it would be capricious to continue pursuing charges over entheogenic plants in other parts of the county and not in the interest of justice, Savit said.

Entheogenic plants are not generally addictive, do not present a significant risk of a fatal overdose and are not associated with violent behavior, Savit said.

“The prosecutor’s office will not contest any application for expungement where the underlying charge was for the possession, use, cultivation or distribution of entheogenic plants,” the policy adds.

Under the policy, criminal charges still can be filed against large-scale enterprises distributing controlled substances in violation of health and safety standards or to children.

The prosecutor’s office also will continue to file charges for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance, Savit said.

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