STUDENTS WORKING TO DECRIMINALIZE MINOR MARIJUANA OFFENSES

A coalition of college students has kicked off a petition drive to
decriminalize misdemeanor marijuana possession in Columbus. "We're not
advocating marijuana use," said Kenny Schweickart, a member of For a
Better Ohio (FABO) who will officially be filing the petition. "We're
advocating sensible drug policy to replace old, failed policies."

The drug policy activist group For a Better Ohio will attempt to
collect 10,000 signatures by June 2, the scheduled date of Hempfest at
Ohio State University's South Oval and well before the August deadline
for ballot initiatives. A project of the Columbus Institute for
Contemporary Journalism, For a Better Ohio's members are students at
Ohio State, Columbus State Community College, Columbus College of Art
and Design and Capital University.

If FABO were to be successful, the Columbus City Council could either
approve the proposed ordinance in its entirety or allow it to appear
on the November ballot.

The proposed ordinance aims to protect the privacy of adults who use
small amounts of marijuana, allow for medical use and to keep college
students from losing federal funding for misdemeanor marijuana
offenses, according to the petition.

"The Higher Education Act (of 1998) denies students money for school
loans, grants and scholarships if they are convicted of any amount
while at the same time murderers, rapists and other violent criminals
are still eligible," Schweickart said.

The ordinance would apply only to adults and would prohibit Columbus
police officers from writing citations for any misdemeanor marijuana
offense, generally possession of less than 100 grams. Officers could
still confiscate or order the destruction of small amounts of
marijuana found on a person, but there would be no paper trail, said
Bob Fitrakis, a Columbus State political science instructor and
advisor for FABO.

Fitrakis also has filed as a Green Party candidate for one of the
three available city council seats, but plans to withdraw from the
race for professional reasons. He worked on a similar and successful
initiative in Ann Arbor during the 1970s and encouraged FABO members
to pursue the idea.

"This is more exciting to me than my council run would have been,"
Fitrakis said. "It gets to the heart of the drug war."

Schweickart said the group hopes to get an endorsement from the
Columbus Division of Police, because the proposal in effect would
allow police to spend more time on violent offenses. Fitrakis called
the dedication of police efforts to misdemeanor marijuana enforcement
"foolish and counterproductive."

"There are plenty of criminal infractions on which we could spend our
limited resources," he said.

The organization also has collected 56,000 signatures over three years
for a statewide initiative that would address medical marijuana use
and industrial hemp, but needs a couple hundred thousand more to get
on the ballot. Though polling shows public support for both parts of
the proposal, Fitrakis said, seeming confusion about industrial hemp
may be hindering the process.

Schweickart said allies in the Ohio Patient Network and Ohio Farmers
for Hemp have allowed the issue to keep moving forward. For now
though, FABO will concentrate on a more local approach.

"We hope that our decriminalization model can be replicated all over
the country," Schweickart said.