COUNCIL TO VOTE ON MARIJUANA ACT

A measure scheduled to come before the Berkeley City Council tonight that
is designed to reduce the severity of punishment for marijuana users was
endorsed yesterday by California's only Green Party assemblymember.

Audie Bock, an assemblymember from Oakland, announced her support her
support of The Kinder and Safer Streets Act. If passed, the measure would
also reduce the number of marijuana-related arrests in Berkeley.

The Peace and Justice Commission is planning to submit a resolution to the
council tonight, urging the passage of the measure.

If passed, the resolution would bring the city into greater compliance with
the Compassion Use Act passed by the state in 1996, which legalized
medicinal marijuana, and with Berkeley's 1979 cannabis ordinance, which
made punishment of marijuana-related offenses a low priority for police.

The measure is necessary because despite these laws, patients are still
getting arrested for medical marijuana use, said Berkeley City
Councilmember Kriss Worthington.

Young people who are caught using cannabis are charged with a felony rather
than with a misdemeanor, which might only warrant a citation, Worthington
said.

Supporters who have already endorsed the measure include Berkeley's Police
Review Commission, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the American Civil
Liberties Union chapters in Berkeley, Albany, Richmond and Kensington and
more than 60 individuals and businesses.

The Berkeley City Manager, Police Chief and City Attorney are currently
writing their recommendations for the proposed ordinance. The city council
is expected to vote on the measure in approximately two months, Worthington
said.