The Hattiesburg City Council unanimously approved ordinances at its Tuesday, June 18 meeting designed to protect residents from being incarcerated on first-offense simple possession of no more than 30 grams of marijuana and from seeing items defined as paraphernalia in plain sight for sale.
Both ordinances passed unanimously during Tuesday’s vote.
The marijuana ordinance was examined during a town meeting and two City Council work sessions, while also undergoing legal scrutiny at the local and state levels. Hattiesburg businessman James Moore presented the paraphernalia issue to the City Council during a recent citizens’ forum.
Mayor Toby Barker
Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker said the two ordinances are designed to complement each other.
“These two ordinances work in tandem to empower people to make better decisions and protect us going forward,” he said. “(The marijuana possession ordinance) modernizes the city’s approach to the drug policy by using best practices and common sense for someone whose only infraction has been possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana. It should not be incarceration. It affirms the current practice our police department is already using.”
The ordinance sets a municipal court fine of not more than $100 for anyone who receives a citation for simple possession of not more than 30 grams of marijuana as a first offense.
“With first offense of simple possession, they could be fast-tracked through municipal court and could pursue non-adjudication of charge,” Barker said. “They could receive counseling and potentially treatment in one of the programs that deal with substance abuse.”
Barker said nothing in the ordinance conflicts with the state statute.
District 4 Councilwoman Mary Dryden emphasized during Tuesday’s vote that marijuana continues to be illegal in Hattiesburg.
Ward 4 Councilwoman Mary Dryden
“Law enforcement will enforce the law,” she said. “My reason for supporting this law is that it fast-tracks users through the behavioral court system, where support and resources for referral for treatment can be implemented.”
Police Chief Anthony Parker said most marijuana infractions this year were handled with citations.
“Since Jan. 1, we have only had 24 incidents, and only six of those were arrests,” he said. “The rest were citations. The arrests involved corresponding charges, so that’s why they were incarcerated.”
Police Chief Anthony Parker
Barker said, “Marijuana is still very much illegal in the City of Hattiesburg. However, I believe there is a smart way to approach it. Choosing to issue a citation and creating a process where these people can find treatment or referral to a court program is a much more humane and also just a smarter way to deal with it.”
Barker added the paraphernalia ordinance keeps the items from being displayed openly.
“One thing that we have to do is protect those who are most impressionable and most vulnerable,” he said. “Our kids as they are leaving school or people who are in recovery who are fighting that battle every day don’t need to go into a service station and see all this paraphernalia in front of them at the cash register as they buy a tank of gas. I think this protects them from that.
“One, you are not going to sell this within 750 feet from a church or a school. Also, if you’re going to sell it, you are going to put in behind the counter, out of sight, where people are going to have to ask for it.”