By Kendra Bryant
Special to the AFRO
The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office hosted a community town hall on March 18 at Digital Harbor High School to discuss solutions to juvenile crime and the impact of local smoke shops in Baltimore.
The conversation was moderated by T.J. Smith, host of WBAL NewsRadio. Panelists included Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, Executive Director of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Commission (ATTC) Jeffrey Kelly and Baltimore City Councilman Antonio Glover (D-District 13).
“This isn’t about just locking up Black and Brown children,” said Bates. “This is about how we keep the community safe, how we give young people services, what’s going on in the churches and how we can come together and solve the problem.”
Concerns intensified after a March 17 raid at a smoke shop location on Monument Street found illegal amounts of cannabis and weapons. The business reopened on the following day, and the growth of the shops continues. According to public radio station WYPR, there are more than 1,200 smoke shops operating in Baltimore City.
“I’ve pushed many times and I’ll continue to push it to our council that by having these smoke shops in our communities, we are contributing to the next generation of addicts,” said Councilman Glover. “Those addicts are Black and Brown people.”
Despite Baltimore’s predominantly Black population, they are not the primary owners in the industry.
“The people who are owning the smoke shops do not look like us,” said Councilman Glover. “They’re not from our city. They’re coming from outside of our city and marketing fresh produce. They may sell an apple or an orange, but 95 percent of the products are tobacco.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drug abuse statistics, among 12- to 17-year-olds who used illicit drugs in the last month in Maryland, 84.21 percent reported marijuana usage.
“One of our main efforts was to ban companies’ abilities to put cartoon characters on their products, as well as the usage of bright colors,” said Kelly. “We all know the logos for Star Wars and Oreos. By using this form of advertising, they’re marketing to kids.”
Community members emphasized that addressing juvenile crime requires understanding the root causes of youth involvement rather than immediately criminalizing young people.
Tia Hamilton, a formerly incarcerated African-American woman, promotes the importance of literacy and education through her business, Urban Reads Bookstore. She believes that a fundamental issue to the crime is the lack of education among youth.
“We need to step outside of looking at our elected officials and begin looking to ourselves to save our communities,” said Hamilton. “Put some meetings together on your block, bring these parents together, feed these children, teach a baby how to read. If they were reading, they would be doing less crime and instead be doing something else.”
Resources such as the Baltimore Police Department Victim Services and BCSAO Victim Witness Division shared their commitment to providing residents who have suffered a loss due to violence with grief counseling, financial assistance and transportation to court appearances.
“I lost my brother to gun violence and these resources were the ones who really helped with that process at the time, and you all are super appreciated,” said host, J.R. Smith. “It is my hope that no one else has to deal with anything like that.”
Officials encouraged attendees to report businesses that continue illegal sales anonymously through the ATTC webpage.