MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION BACKERS' PETITION DRIVE COMES UP SHORT

COLUMBUS - Backers of a proposal to decriminalize the possession of small
amounts of marijuana in this city failed to collect enough valid signatures
on petitions to put the issue on the November ballot.

The Franklin County Board of Elections said the effort by the group, For a
Better Ohio, came up 1,858 signatures short of the 7,213 needed. The 7,213
represents 5 percent of the turnout in the last general election.

The petitions contained 10,762 signatures, but Board of Elections Director
Guy Reece II said just 5,355 were from registered Columbus voters.

The proposal calls for Columbus police and prosecutors to ignore laws
governing possession of up to 7 ounces of marijuana.

Even if the initiative made it to the ballot and voters approved it, there
are questions about its legality. Some lawyers have said that it would
violate the Ohio Constitution. They say a city law cannot tell police and
prosecutors to ignore a state law.

Kenneth Schweickart, president of For a Better Ohio, said he wants a recount.

Schweickart claimed elections officials botched the count because they are
in the midst of a move to new offices and because they don't have enough
workers to do the job accurately.

"It's extremely unlikely that they could have counted the signatures and
evaluated them thoroughly," Schweickart said. "We were just so diligent
about voter registration, and our validity should be much higher. We should
have enough to make it on the ballot."

The board checks petition signatures for the Columbus city clerk's office
as a courtesy. Under city law, Clerk Timothy J. McSweeney has the final say
on a petition's validity.

Petitioners could review the signatures themselves and make their case
directly to the clerk that the petition is valid. Failing that, they could
go to court to ask a judge to order McSweeney to validate the petition.