Doctor Advises Ocean City Council Against Marijuana Ban

Shortly before the Ocean City Council unanimously voted to keep marijuana illegal in Thursday night's meeting, a doctor and Ocean City resident voiced why the council should not ban the substance. Stefan Fenichel, a medical doctor, pointed to United States incarceration rates, as well as Martin Luther King Jr. and his philosophy.

"The lynchpin of mass incarceration is marijuana illegalization, which fuels the drug war, or more accurately, the war on African-Americans and Hispanics," Fenichel said in the meeting's citizen comment portion.

Ocean City Council voted, 7-0, on an ordinance on introduction to prohibit businesses that cultivate, manufacture test or sell marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia. The proposition will go to the Zoning Board on Feb. 14 for consistently, a public hearing and a second reading.

Fenichel mentioned that the United States has the world's highest incarceration rate per capita. The United States has an incarcerated population of 666 per 100,000 people, according to the International Centre for Prison Studies.

"As studies show, the per capita use is equal for whites, blacks and Hispanics," Fenichel said. "However, the number of prisoners is overwhelmingly blacks and Hispanics. What would Dr. King say about this state of affairs?"

Fenichel also offered to show the council medical evidence on marijuana's effects and studies on incarceration rates to help them with their decision.

"I would be very happy if there was some time to look at what this ban means, how it really fuels the prison-industrial complex, multiplied by communities like Ocean City."

Watch the full City Council meeting.

Read More: Ocean City Council To Introduce Marijuana Ban

Image via Youtube.