VOTERS CUT MARIJUANA PENALTIES

COLUMBIA, Mo. - It ain't Amsterdam, and it's still got nothing on Berkeley.

But when voters in Columbia passed two propositions decriminalizing
marijuana, they made this mid-Missouri college town about the closest thing
the Midwest has to offer.

Decriminalization means if you're caught in the city with a small amount of
marijuana, "you don't get arrested, you don't go to jail, and you don't get
a record," according to Dan Viets, a Columbia defense attorney who helped
spearhead the effort to pass the propositions. He's also defended clients
against marijuana charges here for 18 years.

"These people don't deserve to be treated like criminals," Viets said.
"They aren't a threat to society."

The number of voters who agreed on Nov. 2 startled supporters and foes alike.

Almost 70 percent of voters backed Proposition 1, which makes it legal for
seriously ill patients to possess and use marijuana if they have a doctor's
permission.

More than 60 percent voted for Proposition 2, which requires arrests for
possession of 35 grams or less of pot be handled in municipal court, not
state court where consequences are more severe.

In municipal court, defendants will face smaller fines and no jail time.
First-time offenders could have their prosecution deferred and charges
dropped if they stay out of trouble.

Municipal court also means students busted on misdemeanor charges in the
city would not lose their financial aid under the Higher Education Act,
which strips funds from recipients with marijuana convictions in higher courts.

"It doesn't help society to have people drop out of college," Viets said.
"It's counterproductive. People who commit murder or rape or robbery can
still get student loans. It's irrational."

In a town with tens of thousands of college students, that message resonated.

"I think it's a good idea," said Nate Tomasi, a Mizzou senior from
Springfield, Mo., who supported the propositions. "I don't want my tax
money going to taking kids out of school. Marijuana laws right now are a
little too strict for the actual consequences."

Students like Tomasi might have helped make the difference in this
election. When a similar measure went before voters last year, the smaller
turnout of mostly older voters narrowly defeated the proposition.

But the turnout and support for the propositions on Nov. 2 reveal that
liberal college students aren't the only ones who voted for the
propositions, Viets said. A growing number of adults nationwide say they've
tried pot, and a majority support medical use of marijuana and
decriminalization, he said.

Average people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, both conservative and liberal,
passed the propositions.

"This isn't just a college town phenomenon," he said. "College students
were helpful, but they did not dominate this election."

It may be too early to light up in celebration, however, and not everyone
will be taking part.

Opponents and law enforcement officials say the laws address problems that
don't really exist and take decision-making authority away from police and
prosecutors.

For example, they say misdemeanor marijuana charges were already a low
priority.

"The idea that law enforcement was rushing in and cuffing people and
throwing them in jail with no prior history is a misnomer," said Boone
County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Crane. "We weren't filling up the jail
with people who didn't have associated criminal offenses or a prior
history. It just isn't happening."

First-time offenders were already sent to municipal court, according to
Crane and Columbia Police Chief Randy Boehm. They're concerned that the new
law treats repeat offenders the same way.

"It removes law enforcement discretion as to how a case should be dealt
with," Boehm said. "We have to treat a fourth-or fifth-or sixth-time
offender the same as a first-time offender."

There are still many unanswered questions, as well. Are campus police bound
by the new laws? Will the laws encourage more people to use marijuana? Does
the medical marijuana proposition put the city in conflict with state law?
What kind of documentation is required to show a doctor's recommendation to
have cannabis?

The medical marijuana law makes it legal for patients to possess and use
pot in Columbia, but gives them no legal source for their supply. That's
something David Sapp hopes to change now that the first step has been taken.

Sapp, 54, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 20 years ago. As his
condition worsened in 1996, a neurologist in the San Francisco area, where
Sapp lived, recommended he try marijuana for some of his symptoms.

Other drugs either hadn't helped treat symptoms such as spasticity - a
contraction of muscles that can range from muscle stiffness to severe,
painful spasms - or their side effects were too severe.

Marijuana helped, and he bought it from legal medical marijuana sources in
California and ingested it in baked goods or tea. As his condition
progressed, he quit his law practice and moved back to Missouri in 1998.

He moved to Columbia, where he went to graduate school and still had
friends. But before Proposition 1 passed, he couldn't use marijuana legally.

"Medical marijuana wasn't available and I didn't want to support the black
market, so I haven't used it much here," he said. "It's really made a
difference in my life, and not for the better. My limited movement is even
more limited."

He said he'd like to see a legitimate source of medical marijuana set up,
as in California, so the chronically ill can get the drug safely and legally.

"In California, I saw rooms filled with sick people who could get something
that really helped," Sapp said. "I think you'd find that here if there was
a safe place people could go."

That might happen if Viets and others who want to change marijuana laws are
successful with their next target: the Missouri General Assembly.

"We strongly believe the state Legislature, even a Republican-dominated
state Legislature, should be capable of passing a medical marijuana law,"
Viets said. "Clearly we had large numbers of Republicans who supported this
proposal. It's a conservative value that the government should leave us
alone and stay out of our lives if we're not hurting anybody. And very few
people have been victimized by a marijuana smoker."