MAKING GREEN A LOWER PRIORITY

A local group pushes for a low priority city ordinance for those who
smoke marijuana.

The Michigan Chapter of National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML) sees Kalamazoo as a progressive community in
which the liberalization of marijuana laws can be fostered.

A petition to make the use of cannabis a low priority for arresting
authorities is being organized by Louis Stocking of Kalamazoo.
Stocking has been writing letters to the MINORML and finally has
their attention. "By low prioritizing it we basically don't allow
them to focus as much time (on marijuana-related arrests)," stated Stocking.

South West Michigan coordinator for Michigan NORML, Greg Francisco
states, "We have had our eye on Kalamazoo for quite some time because
it is a progressive city with a pool of young, energetic activists
and the threshold to qualify for the ballot is relatively low
compared to some other cities. But we are also moving ahead
organizing in other cities around Michigan at the same time. Similar
measures may appear on as many as three other Michigan cities within
the next year. Maybe more as momentum builds and word spreads that
this is even possible."

It has been a month and a half since Stocking first started writing
the letters and now he has the support of many of the citizens of
Kalamazoo. Comments have been made that if a marijuana user is not
injuring anyone then it's a victimless crime, aside from the user
whom is being arrested for possession. Stocking responded to this
comment, "I do agree that my liberties should not be jeopardized." He
also believes that if legalization is on the books that there should
be certain guidelines that would need to be set.

On the subject of marijuana being a "gateway drug" Francisco
disagrees, "Over 150 million Americans have used marijuana in their
life-time, fewer than 500,000 are addicted to harder drugs. If
marijuana is a gateway, where are all the addicts? Teens in the U.S.
almost universally follow the same progression: tobacco, alcohol,
cannabis, so if cannabis was a gateway drug, it would still be the
3rd along the path.

States that harshly punish marijuana offenses have higher rates of
hard drug addiction. States that have decriminalized simple
possession have markedly lower rates of hard drug addiction. This
suggests that marijuana is not a gateway but rather a terminus."

Rev. Steven B. Thompson, Executive Director of Michigan NORML,
believes that cannabis is not a drug to begin with, "It's a seed
bearing herb, not a gateway drug."

Steve Lehman, addiction service supervisor at Woodlands Behavioral
Healthcare Network, believes that Michigan voters made a big mistake
in approving medical marijuana on November 4th.

He states that the positive benefits are outweighed by the negative
effects of making that drug available to people who don't have a
legitimate need for it. In response to Lehman's statements, Stocking
said, "I don't think that the law is going to be handing it over to
people who have headaches, but to those who have actually
debilitating diseases."

Medical marijuana is now starting to become mainstream; according to
Francisco, Proposal 1 passes by a margin of nearly 2 to 1. "MI NORML
supports a policy of treating responsible adult use of marijuana the
same way we currently treat responsible adult use of alcohol & tobacco.

Legal but heavily regulated, taxed and sold by legitimate businesses
who employ clerks who check ID's. All the criminal drug dealer asks
to see from kids, is the cash," states Fransisco.

There is no petition right now, but one should start to circulate
around Kalamazoo in April. Stocking said that the petition will have
to be turned in mid-August. He also thinks that the petition will get
the people out even more to vote.

Francisco thinks the fiscal responsibility and wise use of limited
public resources is something everyone wants, regardless of political stripe.

This measure is about how to allocate limited resources to attain the
maximum value. "We expect the most vigorous opposition to come from
those who benefit the most financially from the status quo and
organizations who risk loosing funding currently derived through
aggressive use of civil forfeiture."

"A Lowest Law Enforcement Priority measure will direct the KPS & the
City Attorney to make the arrest & prosecution of small amounts of
marijuana with no other aggravating circumstances their lowest
priority," said Francisco, "What this will do is free up scarce
resources so that they can be devoted to addressing more serious crimes."