Washtenaw County Prosecutor Will No Longer Charge Marijuana Cases

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI — Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit on Tuesday said his office would no longer be pursuing charges in cases related to marijuana or entheogenic plants.

Savit also said that his office would be supporting the expungement of marijuana and entheogenic plant crimes on people's records if they qualify for expungement.

"It’s time to move forward from the unjust & inequitable policies of the past, particularly relating to prohibitionist systems," Savit said on Twitter Tuesday. "Today’s announcements are a first step. More is coming, very very soon."

Savit did say, however, that his office may continue to file charges against large-scale, profit-seeking groups that aren't safe with the recreational drugs or who sell to children.

Savit has shown to be a progressive prosecutor in his short time in the position. After taking office on Jan. 1, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor quickly introduced a new directive eliminating cash bail. He also rescinded zero-tolerance policies used under prior prosecutors.

In his reasoning for no longer pressing charges on those crimes, Savit said on social media that marijuana offenses are closely tied to the "racially disparate effects of criminalization." The prosecutor said that while white and Black people use cannabis at around the same rate, Black Americans are more likely to face criminal consequences for it.

"For much of U.S. history, cannabis was widely accepted, & was present in many medicines," Savit said. "But anti-cannabis crusaders seized on anti-immigrant sentiment, rebranded it the Spanish word “marihuana,” & piggybacked on anti-Black racism to push criminalization."

Savit also said that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol, and noted that in the 1970s there was a movement to legalize marijuana. Michigan in 2018 passed Prop. 1, which legalized recreational marijuana. But the law still allows Michiganders to face criminal charges for having excessive quantities of marijuana and doesn't allow for past convictions to be easily expunged.

"We’ve long known that marijuana is as safe as alcohol," Savit said. "It thus makes no more sense to charge someone for having “too much” cannabis than it does to charge people for having “too many” bottles of wine. And we won’t, any longer.

"People shouldn’t have criminal records consisting of things that are no longer crimes," Savit added. "For that reason, we won't contest any application to expunge cannabis-related records."