Lawrence’s marijuana experiment and the questions it creates

Plain and simple, the mayor of Lawrence wants marijuana to be legal.

In March, Lawrence city commissioners went about as far as they could go on that front. They lowered the fine for possessing 32 grams or less of marijuana to just $1 — not only for your first offense but also your second.

The penalty for marijuana possession was lowered after a lot of discussion about how justice wasn’t being equally served on this front. Studies have shown blacks, for instance, face more prosecution for marijuana than whites, even though use is higher among whites. There was a lot of discussion that the fine for the crime was impacting lives more than it should.

“Reasonable justice, equitable justice,” Mayor Lisa Larsen told me when we sat down together a few weeks after passage of the new Lawrence fines.

But that is a bit different than saying marijuana ought to be legal. Does Lawrence’s top elected official think the drug ought to be fair game in Lawrence? There was no hem-hawing from Larsen.

“For me, I think it should be legalized,” Larsen said. “Tax it just like any other product, and let folks make the decision from a health standpoint.”