Pubdate: Sat, 23 Oct 2004
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)
Copyright: 2004 Columbia Daily Tribune
Contact:  http://www.columbiatribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/91
Author: Dave Moore, of the Tribune's staff
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org
Cited: NORML http://www.norml.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)

POT ADVOCATES HOPE THIRD TRY PROVES CHARM

Two Marijuana Issues on Columbia Ballot

Penny and Joseph Brotherton live next door to Tina Edholm in a west 
Columbia neighborhood, but they're miles apart over two initiatives on the 
Nov. 2 ballot to reduce penalties for marijuana possession in the city.

Edholm will vote against the ballot initiatives for the following reason: 
"After working with individuals who have had substantial marijuana use, 
I've seen how it can destroy their lives. They lack initiative and concern 
for their personal well-being."

The Brothertons say that the ballot issues would have police treat 
marijuana as what it is: a natural drug safer than alcohol.

Proposition 1 would allow seriously ill people to use marijuana with the 
permission of their doctors. If arrested, the highest fine they would have 
to pay is $50.

Proposition 2 would make all misdemeanor marijuana arrests civil matters in 
municipal court that would net at the most a $250 fine and result in no 
criminal record.

The group that placed both issues on the ballot, Columbia Alliance for 
Patients and Education, or CAPE, promotes Proposition 2 as a means for 
students to keep their government grants even if they are arrested for 
having small amounts of marijuana. Both proposals involve marijuana 
weighing up to 1 1/4 ounces.

Several prospective voters questioned by the Tribune were unaware of 
details of either proposal.

CAPE claims several reasons to be optimistic. The ballot issues have:

. Won endorsements from the board of directors of the Columbia League of 
Women Voters.

. Attracted a $50,000 campaign contribution from the Washington, D.C.-based 
Marijuana Policy Project, which publicizes initiatives to reduce or 
eliminate penalties for marijuana possession.

. The potential to benefit from young voters casting ballots in the 
presidential election.

. No organized opposition. That's a contrast with last year, when a similar 
proposition on the city ballot drew opposition from local, state and 
federal officials. That ballot issue failed 58 percent to 42 percent; a 
1985 marijuana proposition in the city failed 57 percent to 43 percent.

Columbia attorney Dan Viets, a leader of CAPE, argues that voting for the 
measure only codifies existing Columbia police policy.

Police Chief Randy Boehm, however, said both propositions differ from his 
policies. Boehm adopted a rule in April 2003, directing practically all 
cases involving just first-time misdemeanor marijuana possession to 
municipal court, where violators are subject to fines but not criminal records.

Boehm said Columbia police sometimes send second- or third-time offenders 
to state court. They also combine marijuana charges with other charges that 
are sent to state courts, and they automatically send marijuana cases to 
state court if they're connected with search warrants.

The incongruity between the marijuana initiatives and Boehm's policy is 
just one example of many hurdles that proponents face in getting their 
issues passed.

That's why Viets is working with University of Missouri-Columbia students 
to spread the word at forums in Columbia.

He and others are also are rallying support from patients and students, who 
arguably stand the most to gain if the initiatives should pass. Among them 
is Christy Welliver, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

Welliver told the Tribune she has friends with MS who moved to Columbia 
from California and learned they could no longer legally purchase marijuana 
to treat muscle spasms related to the disease.

In California, patients older than 18 in several cities can receive medical 
marijuana cards allowing them to buy marijuana at authorized outlets. Ten 
states have legalized the medicinal use of marijuana, according to the 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.

While Welliver said she doesn't use marijuana, she said her legs recently 
started to suffer from spasms, making it difficult to bend them to conform 
to her wheelchair in the daytime and difficult to straighten her legs so 
she can sleep at night.

Welliver and others also argue in favor of Proposition 2, saying the 
penalty of having a state or federal criminal record outweighs the 
seriousness of being caught with a little bit of marijuana. They contend 
that pulling grants from students can force them out of college.

Proposition proponents readily cite research to argue that reducing 
penalties for its possession wouldn't make marijuana use more common and 
that marijuana is less addictive than nicotine and alcohol.

Despite the absence of a counterpunch to CAPE, one local opponent believes 
the measure will fail again because core beliefs in Columbia aren't 
consistent with either proposition.

"I don't see much sense in decriminalizing it," said Kim Dude, who is 
director of the MU Wellness Resource Center but offered a personal opinion. 
Marijuana use "has an effect on short-term memory and has an effect on 
motivation, and both of those would be harmful to the college students."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake