JUDGES: GIVE 1ST-TIME MARIJUANA OFFENDERS CITATIONS

First-time marijuana offenders caught with only a small amount of the drug
would no longer face a criminal charge under a plan being developed by La
Crosse County judges.

Proponents say they don't want to decriminalize marijuana, just handle
first-time offenders more efficiently. Under the plan, a first offense
would become an ordinance violation, with a fine, that wouldn't go on a
criminal record.

Circuit Judge John Perlich, who also is working to start a drug court next
year, discussed the idea of a marijuana ordinance Wednesday with the
county's Criminal Justice Management Council.

Perlich questioned the fairness of charging first-time marijuana offenders
with a criminal offense when first-time drunken drivers get a traffic citation.

The drunken driver never has to tell an employer he has been convicted of a
crime, but someone caught with "two joints" will have a record that follows
him for life, Perlich said. Marijuana possession also now carries "a
substantial fine and a six-month suspension of the individual's driver's
license," Perlich said in an earlier letter to the council.

There are also financial reasons to create a marijuana ordinance, Perlich
said Wednesday. When someone is charged with possession, he or she is
entitled to an attorney, Perlich said. "We're appointing attorneys at
county expense," he said.

County board member Steve Doyle, who unsuccessfully proposed a similar
marijuana ordinance a decade ago, said the other benefit would be that the
county gets to keep all the fines collected. Now, 90 percent of criminal
fines go to Madison, he said.

Doyle said his 1991 proposal died because the judges only "quietly
supported" it and because officials in the DARE anti-drug education program
opposed it.

La Crosse County District Attorney Scott Horne told the council he has
reservations about the idea. Because municipal citations aren't on the
county's law enforcement computer system, a deputy sheriff wouldn't know if
a suspect had already been cited in another community, Horne said.

Onalaska has handled first-time marijuana arrests as ordinance violations
for more than a decade, and Police Chief Randy Williams said he agrees
philosophically with changing the county's approach. "But it's the first
shot only," he said.

La Crosse Mayor John Medinger said City Attorney Patrick Houlihan has been
talking about a marijuana ordinance for La Crosse. Houlihan was out of town
Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.

Doyle said a county marijuana ordinance would apply only to arrests in
unincorporated areas, not the cities and villages. But if the county passed
it, Doyle said it would send a message to the city of La Crosse that it
should consider the same thing.

Horne said he'd prefer to keep the existing criminal marijuana charge, but
give first-time offenders six to eight weeks to go through a new program at
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center. "If they go through the program, the
case would be dismissed," Horne said.

Horne said DARE officers are concerned about sending a message to kids that
marijuana use isn't as serious as other drugs. "They are concerned that
we'd be undermining" the DARE message, he said.

La Crosse County Board Chairman Jim Ehrsam said in an interview after the
meeting that he supports the judges' plan.

"I think it's a good idea. It has to be handled with the drug court,"
Ehrsam said. "We've got to do something about (reducing) all these repeat
offenders."

The goal of drug court is to limit the number of repeat offenders through
effective treatment. The drug court uses incentives to prod offenders into
accepting treatment, with judges having the ability to enforce terms of
release, treatment and supervision through punitive measures.

The Criminal Justice Management Council is looking at alternatives to jail
sentences to reduce the county's jail population, and will make
recommendations to the county board this summer. Researchers from the
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will be conducting a random telephone
survey for the council in coming weeks.