DESPITE SETBACK, LAWMAKER PRESSES ANTI-POT CRUSADE

Legislative Conference Committee Kills Proposal To Penalize Ann Arbor
For Liberal Law

State Sen. Mike Rogers has lost the first round in his battle to force Ann
Arbor to de-liberalize its marijuana laws, but the Brighton Republican vows
the fight is far from over.

A Rogers-sponsored budget amendment that would have penalized the city 10
percent of its state revenue sharing money every year until it adopts
stricter state drug laws was halted this week in a legislative conference
committee.

"I'm not going away until it's fixed," Rogers said Thursday. "We've had a
lot of mixed emotions about it but I've gotten calls from police officers
supporting us. There are parents that call us to tell us to keep fighting.
This doesn't just affect Ann Arbor. It affects everyone around Ann Arbor."

The budget amendment originally passed through the Senate in May but never
made it to the House. It was first taken out of the budget in conference
committee last week, but an effort to get it put back in materialized this
week. A 4-2 committee vote Wednesday halted the amendment from going any
further.

Rogers said he first became concerned with Ann Arbor's marijuana law when
it came up in a discussion with high school students in his district. The
youths told him that marijuana use can't be that big of a deal if it's only
a $25 ticket in Ann Arbor.

When the state Legislature reconvenes in September, Rogers plans to
introduce a bill that will repeal the grandfather clause that allows Ann
Arbor to keep a marijuana law that is less strict than the state law.

State law calls for a maximum of one year in jail and up to $2,000 in fines
for a first-time marijuana possession violation. Ann Arbor city charter
limits civil infraction tickets for any marijuana possession to $25 in
fines and another $25 in costs.

It was a 1974 referendum that originally added a $5 fine for marijuana
possession to the city charter. A 1990 ballot issue raised the fine to its
current level.

"That is such a mixed message to be sending kids," Rogers said. "It was a
quirk in the law that got us into this spot. We've got to step up to the
plate to fix it. How many kids are going to be inducted into the drug
culture because of this?"

State Rep. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor, questioned the constitutionality of the
amendment from the start. She said the amendment was illegally trying to
take local government control and redirect it to the state.

"That was one senator grandstanding on an issue," Brater said. "It wasn't
an appropriate thing to do and it's an unconstitutional amendment anyway. I
have said all along that I oppose state legislation to preempt local
control. That law is something that's been worked out on the local level."

Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon was happy to hear the news of the
amendment's failure. The city could have lost $1.29 million of the $12.9
million it is due to receive under the revenue sharing plan for 1998-99.

"I knew common sense would prevail," Sheldon said.

"I felt it was important that we let this go through the legislative
process. We knew we probably had a pretty good legal standing if it did
actually go through."

Sheldon noted that the political climate in the city probably would make it
difficult to abolish the law in the near future.

She said spending on drug education programs and providing alternative
community activities for youths are ways to combat marijuana use.

"This law is a voted-in part of the city charter that the council cannot
change," Sheldon said. "It has to be a vote of the people."

Rogers said he is more committed than ever to bringing Ann Arbor's
marijuana law in concert with the rest of the state after reading a
newspaper article last month about a driver in Indiana who was under the
influence of marijuana and ran into a train.

"We need to un-handcuff the cops, and put the handcuffs on the drug users,"
said Rogers, a former FBI agent.

Copyright 1998 Michigan Live Inc.