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Decriminalizing marijuana will not help jail overcrowding, sheriff says

The City of Sarasota is working on an amendment to issue a civil citation to anyone caught with less than 20 grams of marijuana.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana is gaining traction.

City of Sarasota commissioners unanimously agreed this week to draft an amendment to city code making it a civil offense not criminal.

One commissioner suggested it would help with jail overcrowding a problem at the Sarasota County jail.

But will decriminalizing marijuana help the jail overcrowding any?

“Decriminalizing marijuana is not going to touch my jail overcrowding problem,” says Sheriff Tom Knight of Sarasota County.

Knight says he told Commissioner Hagen Brody this weeks ago when discussing Brody’s proposal to give a civil citation for anyone caught with less than 20 grams of marijuana, instead of the year in jail the first-degree misdemeanor carries now.

But during Monday night’s commission meeting, Brody cited several studies including one by Florida Tax Watch that say this change would cut down on jail overcrowding.

 “For any commissioner of the City of Sarasota to use the jail as a talking point as an analogy, or to think the jail population will be repaired or fixed because they want to decriminalize marijuana is disingenuous to the citizens of their city, it’s erroneous, I call it a falsehood,” says Knight.

“I never said it would be a silver bullet to fix jail overcrowding. I proposed this change as the right thing to do,” says Commissioner Hagen Brody, Commissioner for the City of Sarasota. 

Brody adds that it may at least have a small impact.

The sheriff says not according to his data. Sarasota deputies made 7,267 arrests last year. Of the arrests, only 34 were for marijuana possession under 20 grams.

“34 arrests by Sarasota County says the leadership of the Sarasota Sheriff's Office - their sheriff - has told them we are not here to leave adverse impact on people’s lives and careers," Knight said. 

Knight says he encourages deputies to use discretion.

“Am I opposed to decriminalizing it? No, because our policing style has already basically decriminalized it anyhow," Knight said. "We focus more on intensive things like opioids, meth, and burglaries."

Even then the sheriff says the jail is overcrowded mostly with felons.

The jail is designed for 1,075 inmates, but operational capacity is 836. There are currently 900 inmates in custody, which is 64 inmates over the limit.

Brody says what the city is trying to do is not uncommon.

“18 other communities have done this in the state of Florida. We’re following the legislature’s direction," Knight said. 

While the sheriff is not against decriminalizing marijuana, he says there are better ways of doing it. 

"It’s a leadership issue, not a policy issue," Knight added.

Sheriff Knight says making a policy to decriminalize marijuana or other misdemeanor crimes will create a source of revenue for cities, but says it will lead to confusion because the rule will not apply county-wide since it exposes law enforcement agencies to civil litigation.

Knight says more diversion programs to help those with a drug or mental health problems are better solutions to the jail overcrowding problem.

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