Per The Cartersville Daily Tribune, at 2:18am on New Year’s Eve, police officers showed up to a “Christmas Lingerie Party” in Cartersville, Georgia, responding to a “shots fired” call.
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While there, officers found what amounted to less than one ounce of marijuana. When no one claimed the stash, officers opted to arrest the 70 partygoers instead.
Police said they found less than an ounce of marijuana at a house party Saturday night & since no one claimed it, they arrested 70ppl for it. Some just got out today. Story at 5pm on Ch2 pic.twitter.com/OA2xQFdGX3
— Tyisha Fernandes (@TyishaWSB) January 2, 2018
According to jail records, 63 of the 70 people arrested were charged with one count of marijuana possession under one ounce.
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Many of those arrested were held for as long as 48 hours. The parents of those arrested were frustrated with the lack of information surrounding their release.
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“We just want our babies; they aren’t telling us anything,” said one parent, Monesha Fezzia. “If that’s the case charge them, let them make their bond, have our kids and we will have our day in court. This process is being dragged out for too long.”
The arrests came one day before the state of California began selling recreational marijuana to ring in the new year.
Trump’s attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has vowed to crack down on marijuana sales in what is largely viewed as an obsolete and decidedly racist “war on drugs.”
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With the records of nearly 100 young people tarnished because of a trivial infraction, it is wholly unclear whether these continued tactics – spurred by the Republicans Party – are meant to actually protect people or simply punish them.
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