REDUCE PENALTY FOR POT? TIME TO JUST SAY NO

Our View: Tullytown Council Must Vote Down An Ordinance That Would Allow
Cops To Effectively Reduce The Penalty For Possession Of Marijuana.

Tullytown police say that giving them discretion to effectively reduce the
penalty for possession of marijuana is a crime-fighting tool.

Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons says that adoption of such an
ordinance might allow someone's first drug offense to go undetected on
subsequent offenses.

Nonetheless, the council will consider adopting a disorderly practices
ordinance that would allow police to issue a nontraffic citation to
suspects holding a small amount of marijuana.

This should go down as the easiest vote in borough history, a unanimous
thumbs down.

Law enforcement officials have long complained that all too often drug
offenders receive light sentences and are back on the street seemingly
before the ink is dry on the arrest report. Now Tullytown apparently wants
to add to the problem.

Tullytown police Chief Patrick Priore said the ordinance would be "geared
toward kids. It gives them a chance to go straight."

While we're at it, let's give kids a traffic ticket the first time they
steal a car or rob a house. What about the first time they shoot someone?
Shouldn't we give these kids a chance to get straight, too?

And aren't those tens of thousands of dollars spent on programs such as
DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) supposed to give kids a chance to go
straight? After pounding into our kids' heads that drugs are dangerous and
just possessing them a serious crime? How are kids supposed to reconcile
that message with police issuing what amounts to a traffic ticket for
possession of marijuana?

Trying to call the ordinance a crime-fighting tool borders on ludicrous.
Lowering the penalty for committing a crime hardly seems the most effective
method for convincing people it's not worth committing the crime.

The ordinance will not make Tullytown a haven for pot peddlers, but will
leave a lasting impression. In a time when drugs are eroding the very
fabric of our country, Tullytown wants to handle some drug offenders with
kid gloves.

And, of course, Gibbons is right. The ordinance would complicate countywide
drug enforcement efforts by making it more difficult to identify repeat
offenders.

The council must do the right thing and squash the ordinance. There is
nothing to be gained and far too much to lose.