NEBRASKA PENALTIES FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION CALLED 'TOO LENIENT'

LINCOLN - Smoking pot is just as serious a crime as teenage drinking,
a state legislator says.

So State Sen. Russ Karpisek has introduced a bill to overturn the
30-year-old law that lets Nebraskans off with a $100 fine if caught
with less than one ounce of marijuana.

Karpisek said marijuana users, no matter their age, should face the
same potential penalties as a 20-year-old caught with a half-full can
of beer - up to 90 days in jail and as much as a $500 fine.

"Alcohol is legal for adults, while marijuana is an illegal
substance," the Wilber lawmaker said. "It's one of those things us
rednecks really get mad about."

Nebraska is one of 12 states that have decriminalized possession of
small amounts of marijuana. That means first-time offenses are treated
like minor traffic violations that result in no jail time or criminal
records, according to the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, a group that seeks to legalize marijuana.

Iowa and Kansas both have tougher penalties than Nebraska for simple
possession of marijuana. In Iowa, the penalty for possessing any
amount is up to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine, according to
NORML. In Kansas, the penalty is up to one year in prison and a $2,500
fine.

In Nebraska, repeat offenses carry greater penalties. A third offense
can bring a week in jail. Possessing more than a pound of marijuana is
a felony, and selling any amount of marijuana carries a mandatory
prison term.

Margaret Grove is co-executive director of the parent resource group
PRIDE-Omaha Inc. She said passage of Karpisek's bill would add teeth
to the current law and challenge societal acceptance of marijuana use
among youth and adults.

"Current law is too lenient. It's kind of viewed as a slap on the
wrist. Society in general ties the seriousness to the punishment. Our
kids are growing up in a culture that really normalizes the use of
marijuana," Grove said.

Grove said the average age of first marijuana use is 13. Changes in
public policy that emphasize how serious the drug is are necessary,
she said. PRIDE-Omaha plans to support the bill.

She applauded Karpisek's effort to boost marijuana possession under
one ounce from an infraction to a misdemeanor, as well as raise
penalties for possession of drug paraphernalia.

"It's very accessible, and the kids know that it is," Grove said.
"When it's just put on your record as an infraction, that's not that
scary."

She said a penalty increase might be a deterrent for adults,
too.

Former State Sen. John DeCamp, then of Neligh, led the effort to
reduce penalties for marijuana possession, culminating in 1978 by
lowering it to the equivalent of a traffic ticket for the very
smallest amounts.

"I had very solid reasons for it," DeCamp said, adding that he
convinced conservative legislators it would save tax dollars by
incarcerating fewer people.

In addition, DeCamp, a Vietnam veteran, said soldiers were returning
from Vietnam "accustomed to having a toke of marijuana," only to have
their lives destroyed if caught back home.

Don Fiedler, an Omaha criminal defense lawyer, was a lobbyist working
in support of the 1978 change. He said the law at the time called for
a fine of up to $500 and a maximum of seven days in jail for
possessing up to a pound of marijuana.

The change, he said, kept college students and others from getting
drug misdemeanors on their records that would detract from future
chances at scholarships, jobs and some forms of housing.

In the years since, Nebraska has gotten tough on drunken driving and
teen drinking. The state raised the minimum drinking age, lowered
allowable blood alcohol levels for motorists and increased DUI penalties.

Karpisek isn't the first to notice that teen alcohol penalties are
tougher than those for marijuana.

Former State Sen. Doug Cunningham, then of Wausa, introduced a similar
bill in 2003, after high school students in his district told him they
didn't understand why penalties for marijuana use were less than those
for alcohol use. It was killed by a 6-2 Judiciary Committee vote.

Allen St. Pierre, NORML's executive director in Washington, D.C.,
argues that although policy on marijuana and on alcohol appears to go
in contradictory directions, it makes some sense.

"Alcohol has been shown to be many times more dangerous, more deadly
and more impairing than cannabis," he said. "If government intent is
to deter people from using dangerous substances, alcohol should carry
more penalties."

Omaha City Prosecutor Marty Conboy said it's hard to argue Karpisek's
point that marijuana is an illegal drug and alcohol is legal, at least
for adults.

"Nowadays, we see far more problems with marijuana than we used to,"
he said. "I can see the reasoning behind (Karpisek's) idea."

Conboy said his office handled about 2,500 marijuana charges and about
2,500 open alcohol container and minor in possession cases in 2006.
His office handles most such Douglas County cases.

"I think certainly we would be inclined to make the argument that
we've de-emphasized it too much," Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov
said. "We're not sending a very good message."

Polikov said that currently it's hard to get people into the county's
diversion program for marijuana use because it's easy to think of the
$100 fine as "the cost of doing business."

Conboy said tougher marijuana penalties might inspire more defendants
to fight their charges.

But in reality, actual minor in possession penalties aren't that much
tougher than marijuana penalties. It's rare for someone to be sent to
jail for first-offense minor in possession of alcohol, Conboy said. A
typical fine is in the range of $200 to $250, although it varies
depending upon the judge and the case.

Statewide, there were 7,416 citations and arrests for possession, sale
and manufacturing of marijuana in 2006, according to the Nebraska
Crime Commission.

That compares with 2,738 arrests for juvenile liquor law violations,
337 arrests of juveniles driving under the influence of alcohol,
10,093 arrests of adults for liquor law violations and 13,182 arrests
of adults driving under the influence of alcohol.

Barb Cotten, the school counselor at Blackburn Alternative High School
in Omaha, said passage of the bill and stiffer consequences for
possession aren't a bad idea. But she isn't convinced that it would
make a difference to those who abuse marijuana.

"I think kids will be more careful about where they use, but is it
going to deter them from using? No. I don't think it will," Cotten
said. "Kids are going to experiment."

Cotten said youths need to understand there is a consequence for their
actions, but "know what's legal, what's not legal. I talk to them
about the difference between abuse and addiction. Are you using it
(marijuana) to medicate other issues? It's very important that we
figure out what is the underlying issue."

Omaha-area school districts get out the message about drug use in
different ways. In 2001, the Westside district got a drug-sniffing
dog, Koko, that would randomly visit the high school several times a
month.

"Koko was a very valuable resource," said district spokeswoman Peggy
Rupprecht. The dog recently retired, and the district is considering
another. "Students know that dog will hit on drugs. The students don't
bring their drugs to school."

Westside parents also can sign up their children for random drug
testing. Rupprecht said that testing can help open a conversation
between parents and students about drug use.

The Millard district is stiffening its own penalties for students
found to abuse drugs or alcohol, said student services director Kraig
Lofquist.