DECISION MIGHT COME TODAY ON RENEWING CITY POT PENALTY

City Council could decide today whether to continue making people
caught with small amounts of marijuana face tougher penalties than
they do elsewhere.

The city's ordinance that increased the penalty from a $100 ticket to
a $250 fine and up to 30 days in jail expires at the end of this week.
Council members are considering whether to extend it
indefinitely.

Police Chief Tom Streicher wants them to. He says it gives officers
another avenue to get guns and drugs off the streets.

But council chambers were filled Tuesday with people who think the
measure only clogs the crowded Hamilton County Jail and invites police
officers to target poor people and minorities.

Among them: former mayoral candidate Justin Jeffre, former member of
the band 98 . With a hand-rolled cigarette behind one ear, he told
council's Law and Public Safety committee that the law is
"disgusting."

"I want you guys to think very seriously about this," he said.
"Because there will be a price to pay" on Election Day.

Council members David Crowley and Jim Tarbell opposed the idea when it
came up last year. Crowley questioned using police resources for
something with "very few payoffs."

Streicher said he doesn't think the ordinance puts undue strain on the
jail. Replying to a question from Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz, he said
that officers aren't going into homes for these arrests.

"This is an issue," he said, "where officers are making arrests for
plain-view offenses on the street."