DISSONANCE AND CONTRADICTIONS IN THE ORIGINS OF MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION

The movement for removal of criminal penalties for possession of marih uana in the United States provides an important case study of the caus es and process of decriminalization. Between 1973 and 1978, 11 states reduced criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of the drug , but the reform movement was fragile, brief, and limited to a few sta tes. This case study suggests that reform was driven in part by ''mora l dissonance'' resulting from the arrest of high-status offenders. Alt hough public opinion has always been deeply divided on decriminalizati on of marihuana possession, a narrow ''policy window'' was created in the 1970s by the expressed concern of political leaders about the effe ct of arrest on high-status youths and the support of law enforcement agencies interested in efficient use of limited resources. Even after the window for reform closed at the end of the 1970s with a shift in n ational leadership, deep moral ambivalence renders criminalization sym bolic and police place a low priority on marihuana arrests.