Pubdate: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 Source: Daily Californian, The (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Daily Californian Contact: http://www.dailycal.org/ Author: Linda Shin COUNCIL TO VOTE ON MARIJUANA ACT A measure scheduled to come before the Berkeley City Council tonight that is designed to reduce the severity of punishment for marijuana users was endorsed yesterday by California's only Green Party assemblymember. Audie Bock, an assemblymember from Oakland, announced her support her support of The Kinder and Safer Streets Act. If passed, the measure would also reduce the number of marijuana-related arrests in Berkeley. The Peace and Justice Commission is planning to submit a resolution to the council tonight, urging the passage of the measure. If passed, the resolution would bring the city into greater compliance with the Compassion Use Act passed by the state in 1996, which legalized medicinal marijuana, and with Berkeley's 1979 cannabis ordinance, which made punishment of marijuana-related offenses a low priority for police. The measure is necessary because despite these laws, patients are still getting arrested for medical marijuana use, said Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington. Young people who are caught using cannabis are charged with a felony rather than with a misdemeanor, which might only warrant a citation, Worthington said. Supporters who have already endorsed the measure include Berkeley's Police Review Commission, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the American Civil Liberties Union chapters in Berkeley, Albany, Richmond and Kensington and more than 60 individuals and businesses. The Berkeley City Manager, Police Chief and City Attorney are currently writing their recommendations for the proposed ordinance. The city council is expected to vote on the measure in approximately two months, Worthington said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D