TRIBUNE PRINTED MISLEADING MARIJUANA PETITION HEADLINES

Editor, the Tribune: On Dec. 19, a Tribune headline read "Pro-marijuana
drive gathers 2,600 names." I must clarify that our petition is not
"pro-marijuana." Our alliance, which includes the ACLU and the Libertarian
and Green parties, does not condone or support the recreational use of
marijuana. The alliance is, however, pro-education, pro-patients' rights
and in favor of improving the policies of Columbia. We simply oppose the
current marijuana policy that is anti-education, anti-patients' rights and
a failed policy that disproportionately harms students, the seriously ill,
minorities and the poor.

Furthermore, last Thursday a headline read: "Pot petition drive flawed,
still valid under city's code." The most relevant definition of flawed is:
a defect in a legal document that can render it invalid. However, as the
city attorney stated, the petition drive was for a city initiative and
followed the city charter. The petitions can't be declared invalid and,
thus, were not flawed in any way. Finally, in the article, Boone County
Clerk Wendy Noren called the petitioners' handling of voter registration
cards "abominable." If Noren believes that registering people to vote and
getting them involved in our wonderful democratic process is "abominable"
behavior, then I must respectfully disagree with her.

Anthony Johnson