WRITE-IN MAYORAL CANDIDATE HAS 1 ISSUE: DECRIMINALIZE POT

Let's face it. There's only so much you can do to jive up those campaign
signs. Dave Croteau, who launched his write-in candidacy for mayor last
week, thinks he might have hit on something.

He'll have only one sign in this campaign.

It's all he can afford.

But it's bound to be noticed.

And it's bound to create a buzz, so to speak.

The 4-foot-tall sign has a big green marijuana leaf on it, with the words
``Tax it'' in black letters, along with his name.

The 48-year-old church maintenance worker and native Tucsonan said he would
push for the decriminalization of marijuana so government could regulate it
and make money on its sale.

And Croteau has a view on Central Arizona Project water you won't hear the
other candidates espousing. He would like to use it to help farmers grow
hemp, which could be used not only for clothing and fiber bales for home
construction, but also for oil and paints, he said. Croteau is unapologetic
about being a one-issue candidate in this race.

``The cost of enforcing our drug laws is very high,'' said Croteau, citing
growing costs of law enforcement, prosecution and incarceration. Those
resources could be better spent fighting violent crime, he said.

``To me, it makes a lot more sense to let a person in his own house sit
around and get stoned and be non-productive than for someone to sit around
in a jail cell and cost the rest of us thousands of dollars so he can be
non-productive,'' he said.

A father of five children, ranging in age from 6 to 13, Croteau said he
would restrict minors from using marijuana, just as they are restricted
from buying tobacco or alcohol.

Croteau only has $500 to promote his message, hence the one sign that he is
posting today at East Broadway and Tyndall Avenue.

Four years ago, Croteau switched his party registration from Democratic to
the Green Party, unhappy that the two major parties would not entertain
decriminalization. Generally, the decriminalization issue is a big one for
the Libertarian Party, but Libertarian Ed Kahn is not a proponent.

The Green Party didn't float a mayoral candidate this year, said state
Co-chair Carolyn Campbell, because with the party's limited resources, it
didn't make sense to challenge Democrat Molly McKasson, who ``is good on
environmental and social justice issues.''

Croteau has long been active in community politics, although this is his
first bid for office.

In the early 1990s, he headed the Rincon Heights Neighborhood Association
and was past chairman of a nine-neighborhood coalition that worked with the
University of Arizona and the city on resident concerns. He moved to the
West University neighborhood six years ago and currently sits on its board.

He has also been an appointee to the city's small-business commission and
the citizen's advisory board on police matters, and is now the chairman of
the parent resource committee at Roskruge Bilingual Middle School.

His stance is one that raised a few eyebrows at his church, he
acknowledges. And it does take a certain amount of courage to expose his
own drug use, he said. He was arrested only once, in 1972, for possession
of a joint and three roach clips. But, he said, he sees growing support
nationally for the issue.

Not only did state voters recently say marijuana should be legal for
medicinal purposes, but the highest-ranking Reform Party member, Minnesota
Gov. Jesse Ventura, has promoted decriminalization. Republican New Mexico
Gov. Gary Johnson also came out recently in support of legalization,
although he said he had no plans to push any such legislation.

By the way, for those of you who think the campaign sign would be a neat
addition to your home decor, remember this: It's a misdemeanor to tamper
with a political sign.