MORE LENIENT POT LAW MAY ACTUALLY INCREASE ARRESTS

While many local police disagree with the philosophy behind a state law
reducing the penalty for possessing a small amount of marijuana, they said
it may give them a stronger tool to fight drug offenders.

Frustrated by the Washoe County district attorney's reluctance to prosecute
first-time pot offenders on felony drug possession, local police said they
often would not arrest a person who had a small amount if they hadn't
committed any other crime. Those crime reports would be submitted to the
district attorney, who would decide whether to prosecute.

Since Oct. 1, officers have the option of issuing a misdemeanor citation
that carries a $600 fine for a first offense and requires a substance abuse
treatment evaluation.

"The DA's office for years and years has not been interested in pursuing
felony charges for a small amount of marijuana," Sparks police Deputy Chief
Bob Cowman said. "Most often they would change the charge to a misdemeanor
anyway. The desired effect or outcome will be just as good or better (under
the new law)."

District Attorney Dick Gammick, who opposed the new law during the 2001
Legislature, bristled at the police criticism, saying his office has always
taken drug offenses seriously.

"This really irritates me," Gammick said. "On a small amount of most drug
charges, we told our prosecutors to reduce those to misdemeanors so we could
get them through the system. The last thing we would do is send people to
prison for minor amounts of marijuana."

But statistics from Gammick's office show 90 percent of marijuana charges
adjudicated this year have ended up as misdemeanors. Last year, 93 percent
of adjudicated marijuana charges resulted in misdemeanor convictions. Nearly
300 cases filed in 2000-01 remain pending in Washoe County courts.

Gammick said the statistics may not accurately reflect how his office
handles marijuana cases because of how the computer records codes assigned
to drug possession charges.

"Our statistics are not necessarily good, but they are the best we've got,"
he said.

Sheriff's deputies in Carson City and Douglas County also said most
marijuana arrests result in misdemeanor convictions. The district attorneys
in those jurisdictions could not be reached for comment.

Prior to the new law, which took effect Monday, a person possessing even a
seed of marijuana could be charged with a felony.

But when Gammick was first elected in 1994, he said he gave his prosecutors
the option of reducing first-time marijuana offenses to misdemeanor charges
to help clear a backlog of felony cases in district court.

"I don't want to be jamming up the system," Gammick said. "It is a matter of
what taxpayers are willing to pay for."

Despite his office's practice of reducing most marijuana charges to
misdemeanors, Gammick began protesting the new law before it even became a
bill. The statute takes away a prosecutor's leverage to divert an offender
to drug court, Gammick said. Drug offenders who successfully complete the
drug court's treatment program escape a felony conviction.

"It takes an arrow out of our quiver, and that is drug court," he said.

"We got no arm on them now. They just come in, pay the fine and they are
gone."

The new law, however, requires first-time offenders to undergo a treatment
evaluation. Second-time offenders must complete treatment.

Under the new law, people possessing less than an ounce of marijuana will be
cited, given a court date and released.

"If you take that population of people who are walking around with an ounce
of marijuana, I think you will find more of them cited and put into the
court system now," Reno Deputy Chief Jim Weston said. "It's a good deal. The
way it was set up as a felony was not working."

The statute will save officers the time of booking suspects on felony
charges, most of which were handled as misdemeanors anyway.

"This kind of streamlines what is already in place," Carson City sheriff's
Chief Deputy Scott Burau said. "We're just getting to the end result a lot
quicker."

Suspects with a past record of failing to appear in court, who live out of
the jurisdiction, or who have a violent history may not fit the criteria to
be cited and released, police said.

Washoe County sheriff's deputies also plan to cite and release suspects who
possess less than an ounce of marijuana. Prior to the new law, deputies
often would submit a crime report on someone with a small amount of pot
rather than arrest them.

"Very seldom would we take anyone to jail just for having marijuana," Washoe
County Sheriff Dennis Balaam said.

Douglas County deputies are awaiting instructions from the district attorney
about how to approach the new law.

"This is brand new to all of us," Sgt. Lance Modispacher said. "We are going
to take direction from the DA on how to handle it. We can still make arrests
on misdemeanors."

Deputies in that jurisdiction also seldom arrested a person who simply
possessed a small amount of pot.

"The DA more than likely would not prosecute the case," he said. "Why go
through the procedure of throwing this guy in jail when the DA is going to
go by what is happening around the country and not prosecute."

2000:
499 charges filed for marijuana offenses
16 offenses resulted in felony charges
5 offenses handled as gross misdemeanors
302 offenses handled as misdemeanors
176 cases still pending

Jan. 1 to Oct. 3, 2001
362 charges filed for marijuana offenses
22 offenses resulted in felony charges
3 handled as gross misdemeanors
220 handled as misdemeanors
117 cases still pending