In November 2007, Eureka Springs voters passed an ordinance directing police and prosecutors to make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a low law-enforcement priority. Under Arkansas law, such possession is a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. At that time this ordinance made the news everywhere, even though it had no effect in actual law or practice and was basically a symbolic gesture by the people of the city toward law enforcement -- a way of saying, "Enforcement of this law is not as important to us as many other things you might be spending your law-enforcement monies on. Please do those things instead." [continues 521 words]
Earlier this week in Little Rock, members of Arkansans for Compassionate Care, a group devoted to legalization of medical marijuana, scored a victory when the group submitted 65,000-plus signatures to get the measure on the November ballot. This means in November you will likely have the chance to vote whether to allow medical marijuana to be prescribed by physicians for those suffering for qualifying illnesses or for the dying. This subject is of historic interest in Eureka Springs. In 2006, 598 Eurekans voted for and 345 voted against making possession of marijuana and paraphernalia a low priority for law enforcement, passing the ordinance by a healthy 63.41 percent. That ballot initiative lacked much in the way of teeth but was considered a way of showing the community's intent toward the subject matter. [continues 574 words]
