MARIJUANA ISSUE MAY GO ON BALLOT

Supporters of decriminalizing the possession of up to 7 ounces of
marijuana in Columbus say they have their papers ready to roll.

The group known as For A Better Ohio, which has been circulating a
citywide initiative petition to rule out arrest or prosecution for
misdemeanor amounts of marijuana, will turn in more than 10,000
signatures to the city clerk's office on Tuesday, said Kenneth
Schweickart, the group's executive director.

Two other groups that want to put issues before voters in November
are scrambling for signatures as an unofficial deadline approaches
this week:

Progress with Economic and Environmental Responsibility, which is
seeking a moratorium on Columbus extending sewer and water lines into
the watershed of the Big Darby Creek, had logged by Friday 6,900 of
the 7,213 signatures needed to make the ballot, said Paul
Dumouchelle, the group's president.

Police Officers for Equal Rights, which seeks to make racial
profiling by police a crime punishable by up to six months in jail,
has about 5,000 signatures, said James Moss, that group's president.
He said he hoped to collect 9,000 signatures over the weekend.
Petitioners typically want a cushion of several thousand signatures
to ensure that enough of them are valid.

Dumouchelle said he would like to turn in more than 10,000 signatures
this week. If his group can't get enough, the new target could be the
May 2002 ballot.

"The November deadline is our objective,'' he said. "But there's
nothing in the ballot initiative process that prevents us from
submitting these signatures one day after the deadline and going on
the next ballot.''

The official deadline to make the November ballot is Aug. 23. But
because the City Council recesses in August, petitioners know they
must turn in their signatures this week to ensure enough time to make
the ballot, and they are hoping to file by Tuesday.

After signatures are turned in to the city clerk, the Franklin County
Board of Elections has 10 days to check them against voting records
and throw out any that are not from registered Columbus voters.

If there are enough valid signatures, the City Council can take up to
two weeks to approve the initiative for the ballot. The council's
last meeting of the summer is July 30.

Schweickart said the vacation interferes with petitioners' ability to
get enough signatures by cutting off three weeks to circulate
petitions.

"They're hindering our access to government,'' he said.

Council spokesman Fred Alverson said the summer recess is not
intended to trample anyone's rights.

"The tradition of an August break goes back to before City Hall was
air-conditioned,'' he said. "This shouldn't catch anyone by surprise.
Our entire meeting schedule was published in January.''

During the past several years, citizen-generated petitions have
become more common in Columbus. In an initiative, a group of
residents puts a legislative issue before the voters for approval. A
referendum submits a law to a vote by residents.

In 1998, voters defeated an initiative that would have required
Columbus to bridge the Olentangy River and connect Morse and Bethel
roads. In 1999, voters defeated an initiative that would have
rescinded tax incentives the city approved for the Polaris Centers of
Commerce.

Recently citizens have successfully used referendum petitions to kill
two measures passed by the City Council. In 1999, the council
rescinded votes to allow a housing development near the Pickerington
Ponds Wetlands Wildlife Refuge and to grant health benefits to the
unmarried, live-in partners of city employees after citizen groups
gathered enough signatures to place the issues on the ballot.

The last referendum to make the ballot was in 1993, when voters
upheld the council's decision to allow the Mall at Tuttle Crossing to
be built on the Northwest Side.