Pubdate: Wed, 10 Oct 2012
Source: Flint Journal (MI)
Copyright: 2012 Flint Journal
Contact: http://www.mlive.com/mailforms/fljournal/letters/
Website: http://www.mlive.com/flint/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/836
Author: Gary Ridley

LEGALIZE IT? NOVEMBER VOTE WON'T CHANGE HOW STATE COPS TREAT MARIJUANA IN FLINT

FLINT, MI -- Even if voters decriminalize marijuana in Flint next 
month, tokers may find themselves in handcuffs if a state trooper 
catches them holding weed.

Flint voters will decide in November whether or not marijuana will be 
decriminalized in the city after Emergency Financial Manager Ed Kurtz 
approved the ballot initiative in late August.

Under current city law, marijuana possession is a misdemeanor 
punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

A yes vote next month would make it legal for anyone 19 years or 
older to have less than an ounce of marijuana -- about enough to fill 
a plastic sandwich bag -- on private property.

But state troopers who currently help patrol the city and run the 
Flint Area Narcotics Group, say marijuana will remain illegal in 
their eyes no matter what the outcome of the election.

"It's not going to affect the way we do our business," said state 
police Detective Lt. Patrick Richard, who heads FANG.

FANG is not bound by city ordinances but instead follows state and 
federal law, Richard said.

Likewise, state police Flint Post commander Lt. Matt Bolger said 
troopers working anti-crime details in Flint are bound by state law 
- -- not city ordinance.

That approach will likely have a big impact on marijuana users in 
Flint, given that only a third of marijuana busts in the city through 
August were prosecuted under the local ordinance.

About 70 people were charged with marijuana possession under the city 
ordinance this year through the end of August, according to Flint 
District Court records. About twice as many -- 141 -- were charged 
with marijuana possession under the state law.

The numbers continue a downward trend of use of the city ordinance 
that saw 199 people charged in 2009 and just 62 charged last year. 
Use of the state law has gone the opposite direction in Flint in 
recent years, with 192 charged in 2009 and 253 charged last year.

Flint Police Chief Alvern Lock said his department has not yet 
discussed how its officers would handle marijuana offenses if the 
initiative passes.

Flint Public Safety Administrator Barnett Jones declined to comment.

Brian Morrissey of the Coalition for a Safer Flint, the group that 
gathered the signatures to get the initiative on the ballot, said he 
was aware that people could continue to be charged under state law 
even if the initiative is approved, but he hopes that Flint could set 
a precedent that could eventually lead to marijuana decriminalization 
statewide.

"Flint has always been a progressive city," said Morrissey.

In the short term, Morrissey said the initiative could help free up 
city police officers so they could focus their efforts combating violent crime.

"This is going to be something that is going to make our city more 
safe," Morrissey said.

Flint resident and Vietnam War veteran James Haywood said he supports 
decriminalizing marijuana in the city.

"It's my drug of choice," Haywood said. "I don't want them hassling 
me while I'm trying to stay mellow."

Haywood said he hopes the state would follow the city's lead if the 
initiative is passed and leave marijuana smokers alone.

"It just makes sense," he said.

City clerk Inez Brown could not give an exact date for when the 
ordinance would go into effect if it were passed.

Sponsors of the initiative and the city's law department would have 
to finalize the ordinance's language, Brown said.

Typically, Brown said, the process does not take a long period of 
time to complete and the effective date would be made public once it 
is determined.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom