Marijuana decriminalization bill headed for Buffalo Common Council

Next Tuesday March 8, the Buffalo Common Council will hear the merits of the Buffalo Cannabis Act in its legislation committee. The BCA, crafted by the Buffalo Cannabis Movement, calls for a decriminalization of marijuana possession under two ounces and would allow Buffalo citizens the right to grow up to six plants in their own homes. 

Marijuana possession arrests in Buffalo—as is the case in many municpalities—are heavily skewed towards African Americans, although repeated studies show that African Americans don’t use the drug any more than any other ethnic group. A year after marijuana possession was decriminalized in the District of Columbia, that jurisdiction witnessed a predictably large decrease in marijuana arrests. There is also growing acceptance that the drug has no more negative side effects than other permitted substances, and the four states that have legalized retail sale have not been met with anything beyond mild growing pains and huge tax revenues. 

The BCA is modeled somewhat on pending legislation in state legislature that was sponsored in the Assembly by Buffalo’s Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a longtime ally of Mayor Byron Brown. Other cities have enacted similar laws to spur marijuana reform, it’s not inconceivable that a portion of this act could be made law. Something the Buffalo Cannabis Movement has advocated for in previous years is making marijuana a “lowest police priority,” and recent data suggest that narcotic detectives have all but completely ignored anything but low-level marijuana sales. 

The hearing will take place in Council Chambers on Tuesday March 8, at 2pm, and it will be open for public comment.

This story was first published on the Public on March 1.