JUST SAY NO

Last November, Denver voters passed a city ordinance making it legal
for a person 21 or older to possess less than 1 ounce of marijuana (or
28 grams) for personal use.

Last month, Denver police, ignoring both the expressed will of
Denver's citizens and the law of the city and county of Denver,
charged David La Goy with possession of less than 1 gram of marijuana.
That is less than the amount of sugar in a single packet. The Denver
city attorney's office will now marshal its vast resources in hopes of
convincing a six-person jury, each taking time from their jobs and
kids, that La Goy possessed this pinch of marijuana.

La Goy and many others in Denver are being prosecuted under a state
law that makes it a petty offense, punishable by a $100 fine, to
possess not more than 1 ounce of marijuana. But it is not just the
city prosecutors who are seeking to rack up convictions in these
cases, it is also the Denver District Attorney's Office that pursues
these cases under state law.

This prosecution is not only absurd, it is an affront to both common
sense and to the notion that law enforcement and our elected leaders
are accountable to the citizens who elected them.

Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman's website claims the Denver police
work "To Protect and To Serve." But the DPD's continued devotion of
its resources to minor marijuana possession cases, in violation of the
law enacted by Denver's citizens, neither protects nor serves our community.

Apparently the DPD reserves the right to ignore the will of the people
it serves. In my book, that isn't service, it is arrogance.

As for the "protect" part: La Goy is HIV-positive, disabled, and uses
marijuana to decrease the nausea that is the inevitable byproduct of
the heavy prescription drugs he takes to battle infections. So I guess
the DPD is protecting society by making sure this man needlessly
suffers a few extra hours a day while convicted. I certainly feel more
protected.

Don't you?

The law enforcement costs of such prosecutions are high. Each
marijuana case will be heard by a judge who will be forced to devote
precious time and staff to pre-trial hearings, jury selection and
trial. Denver's judges carry overwhelming caseloads, and I daresay
most of those cases involve far more serious offenses. Courtroom time
devoted to minor marijuana possession cases usurps time that could be
better used.

The Denver police officer who made this spectacular bust will need to
testify. So mark him or her off the streets. No chasing robbers, no
responding to a burglary, no real crime-fighting for that officer on
that day.

The prosecution must prove that this minute quantity of a green leafy
substance is indeed marijuana. This will require the testimony of a
trained lab analyst drawn from the overworked staff of the Denver
Police Department's crime lab. Scratch one lab tech from work on, say,
checking DNA in sex assault cases, analyzing evidence in a homicide
case, assisting in the prosecution of a methamphetamine lab, or
virtually any other lab work that is necessary in real criminal cases.
Each marijuana case requires the services of a prosecutor, either a
state deputy district attorney in county court or a deputy city
attorney in municipal court. Take one prosecutor off of assaults,
thefts, DUIs or non-felony sexual assault cases. Yes, indeed. Denver
spares no expense in its quest to get the pot-puffers.

The prosecution of La Goy is not an isolated event or an aberration.
Since Denver voters adopted the law permitting the limited possession
of marijuana, Denver police and prosecutors are bringing all their
petty marijuana possession cases under the state law. Taking a
snapshot, on the same day in the same courtroom that La Goy appeared,
there were 10 cases on the docket for possession of under 1 ounce of
marijuana. So Denver's scarce law-enforcement assets are regularly
squandered on cases that carry a lifelong penalty for a non-crime.

I suggest this is not what our state believes is justice. If the state
really wants to prosecute such cases, let the state use its resources.
Direct our Colorado Bureau of Investigation to do the lab analysis and
in-court testimony. Tell our state attorney general's office to
prosecute minor marijuana cases. But that is not going to happen
because none of these state law enforcement agencies will waste their
resources on such inconsequential cases.

Apparently Denver will.

In a separate series of events related only by common sense and irony,
it was recently reported that in spite of rising crime rates, Denver
arrests have dropped 35 percent since 1998 and drunken driving arrests
are down by 50 percent in the last seven years. In response, Whitman
partially blames staff shortages and has called for the hiring of 267
additional officers. According to city figures, hiring 200 new police
officers is a $13 million-a-year proposition.

Whitman says he has a new plan to fight crime. He is going to
prioritize where he puts his officers. The Denver District Attorney's
Office already has 69 deputies; they always want more. We should
remind District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, Mayor John Hickenlooper and
Chief Whitman of how they use their current prosecutors and current
officers to investigate, try and convict Denver citizens for an
offense that Denver voters abolished.

We should remind them of David La Goy's case. When it comes to the
continued prosecution of inconsequential possession of marijuana, just
say no.