GROUP GETS 'POT' PROPOSAL ON BALLOT

Eureka Springs

A Fayetteville pro-marijuana group has collected enough signatures
for a November ballot initiative seeking to make marijuana arrests in
Eureka Springs a low law enforcement priority.

Fayetteville NORML collected the required number of signatures to put
the question to Eureka Springs voters during the Nov. 7 general
election, said Ryan Denham, the group's president.

The Carroll County Election Commission approved the ballot measure
Monday, election coordinator Cathy Ellis said.

The initiative seeks to make arrests and prosecution of misdemeanor
marijuana possession of 1 ounce or less a low priority, Denham said.

"We believe this is going to free up other police resources to deal
with more serious crimes," he said.

Eureka Springs Police Chief Earl Hyatt said the effort contradicts
Arkansas law's requirements for marijuana possession, a Class A misdemeanor.

With such misdemeanors, the arresting officer has a choice of making
an arrest or releasing the person on a citation to appear in court,
he said. State law requires the suspect be fingerprinted before being
locked up or released.

"Whether it passes or not, if it's in contradiction with state or
federal law, it doesn't count," Hyatt said.

Last week, Eureka Springs City Clerk Mary Jean Sell verified the
petition contained 156 valid signatures -- a dozen more than were
needed, Ellis said.

Ellis and Denham said the target number was based on 15 percent of
the votes in the last mayoral race.

Fayetteville NORML -- part of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws -- seeks to decriminalize marijuana and to
promote use of medical marijuana.

"It's either lowering the fines or making it a nonarrestable offense
- -- like a traffic citation," Denham said.

The local group began two petition drives in Fayetteville from April
to June, one to make possession of misdemeanor amounts of marijuana
that city's "lowest law enforcement priority" and the other to allow
doctors to recommend medical marijuana, Denham said.

The group aborted both petitions after realizing it was running out
of help and time to gather the needed signatures, he said.

Even on the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville campus, registered
voters who could provide a valid petition signature were hard to come by.

"It's pretty disappointing," Denham said. "We did voter registration
drives for about a year on campus in preparation for these petition drives."

The local NORML group then decided to focus on nearby Eureka Springs.
Its initiative is patterned after decriminalization efforts in 11
other states and in cities such as Columbia, Mo., and Ann Arbor,
Mich., he said.