MARIJUANA LAW COULD COST STATE $1 MILLION

If Oregon voters want to get tough on people caught with small amounts of
marijuana, it could cost the state more than $1 million annually in lost
revenues and added expenses, according to an official estimate released
Wednesday.

The amount startled a chief supporter of Ballot Measure 57, which makes
it a Class C misdemeanor - instead of a simple violation - to possess less
than an ounce of marijuana. But she said the higher figure wouldn't alter
her support.

"You've given me some information I didn't have previously," state Sen.
Eileen Qutub, R-Beaverton, said after hearing about the new fiscal impact
statement on the measure.

"But I do think it's worth it because it sends a message to young people
that (using pot) is not a good thing."

Foes of marijuana recriminalization said the money would be better spent
on prevention and addiction treatment programs.

The estimated price tag is higher than most state lawmakers thought it
would be because they didn't understand all of the implications of
recriminalization, said state Rep. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, an
outspoken opponent of the proposed law.

"The Legislature, in their zest to look tough on crime, they lost the big
picture," Prozanski said.

The 1997 Legislature passed a law that upped the penalties for possessing
less than an ounce of marijuana, and Gov. John Kitzhaber signed it.

But opponents of recriminalization gathered enough signatures to refer
the bill to the state's voters in November.

By law, the state must estimate how much any given ballot measure will
cost if approved.

According to the fiscal impact statement, the state would have to spend
an additional $586,000 per year to cover the cost of increased law
enforcement, court-appointed attorneys to defend people arrested under
the new law, court operations and jury payments.

That cost was largely anticipated. What came as a surprise was a second
estimate of a $638,000 annual loss of state revenues because of a quirk
in the way fines are levied for marijuana possession.

Under the current law, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is
considered a "violation," not a crime, and treated much like a traffic
violation. But the fines are much stiffer. The minimum fine for pot
possession is $500.

If Measure 57 passes, police and district attorneys will have the choice
of prosecuting the offense as a misdemeanor, which carries with it the
threat of jail time, or as a violation.

However, because the old marijuana possession law would be repealed, the
$500 minimum fine no longer would be valid. Instead, if the case was
prosecuted as a violation, it would be subject to a maximum fine of $250.

Police and prosecutors testified at legislative hearings that they expect
fully 40 percent of prosecutions under the proposed law to be handled as
violations rather than misdemeanors.

"It's kind of a Catch-22," Prozanski said.

Prosecutors said they would go for the lesser sanction as a way to save
on court costs, he said, "but what they didn't realize is that, in doing so,
they're setting up a loss of 50 percent of the revenue" they would get
from fines.

Although the $1.2 million annual price tag is small compared with the
potential budget impacts of some other measures on the Nov. 3 ballot, it
could give opponents ammunition as they try to persuade voters to let the
current law stand.

"That's a higher cost than what the general understanding was among
legislators," said Rep. Lane Shetterly, R-Dallas. But, Shetterly said,
it's up to the voters to decide whether the state would get its money's
worth.

"It's important to ask not only if voters want it (recriminalization),
but also if they're willing to pay for it," Shetterly said.