Pubdate: Tue, 24 Sep 2002
Source: Long Beach Press-Telegram (CA)
Copyright: 2002 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.ptconnect.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/244
Author: Tom Hennessy
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162  (Nevadans for Responsible Law 
Enforcement)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?163 (Question 9 (NV))
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

POT LAWS COSTING PLENTY

De pending on your view, it was a defiant act of mercy or a collective 
nose-thumbing at the U.S. government.

What happened last Tuesday in Santa Cruz was this: People who support the 
use of marijuana for medical purposes distributed it to a dozen patients, 
including some who are terminally ill. Among those helping to distribute 
the pot were the city's mayor, six of its seven council members, and a 
county supervisor.

It was anti-government at its most melodramatic. Several hundred citizens 
cheered the heroes, the pro-pot officials, and hissed the villains, mostly 
the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. All this took place, mind you, 
outside City Hall.

"Santa Cruz is a special place, and today we're letting the world know how 
compassionate we can be,' said Mayor Christopher Krohn. "We're taking a stand.'

The stand was that of defying federal authorities and declaring the city to 
be a "sanctuary' from them. The demonstration, triggered by a recent 
federal raid on a local medical marijuana club, included a few people who, 
although not ill, lit joints to express their disdain for the feds.

But event organizers, namely the Women's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, 
discouraged such freelance smoking, insisting that the demonstration's 
focus was on medicinal use of the plant.

At play here was a conflict of laws. Use of marijuana for medical purposes 
is legal in California if prescribed by a physician. But its use for any 
purpose is prohibited by U.S. law. And the U.S. needs to get over that.

Meanwhile ...

The Santa Cruz flap comes at a time when another battle is being waged to 
decriminalize marijuana use. In Nevada, an initiative called Question 9 
proposes that people be allowed to posses up to 3 ounces.

Question 9, which is on the November ballot, is not as revolutionary as it 
appears at first glance. Were it enacted, pot smoking in public would still 
be outlawed. So would driving under its influence and selling it to minors.

But what makes the initiative unique is the fact that it is supported by 
the state's largest police organization, the Nevada Conference of Police 
and Sheriffs. Last month, the group's board of directors voted 9-0 to back 
Question 9. In so doing, NCOP president Any Anderson reflected the 
frustration of many police officers.

"I was a Metro police officer for 28 years,' he told the Las Vegas Sun, 
"and I spent a lot of time booking people on marijuana charges that never 
went to court. It would take anywhere from a couple of hours for a single 
arrest to about half my shift if there was a line at the booking window or 
multiple arrests time that could have been better spent on the street 
addressing violent crime.'

It is refreshing to see groups like NCOP take a second look at enforcement 
of marijuana laws, an effort that is costing us a fortune.

In 2000, the United States saw a record 734,498 marijuana-related arrests. 
If you suspect most of these were for sale or production, you are wrong. 
About 85 percent of those arrested were charged with simple possession. 
According to the Department of Justice's own statistics, about 60,000 
people or 3.3 percent of our total incarcerated population are under lock 
and key for marijuana violations.

That's costing us $3.2 billion a year.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom