MAYOR WANTS POT LEGALIZED

Cieslewicz would make it alright to smoke weed if the decision was
within his power

Speaking on the radio station Pulse Madison 1670 AM Friday, Mayor Dave
Cieslewicz said if he was granted the option, he would make marijuana
legal.

In a phone interview with radio show "Sly in the Morning," Cieslewicz
was asked about a pending issue concerning Ald. Mike Verveer, District
4.

Madison police officer Carrie Hemming found Verveer and Zander's owner
Mohamed Barkatallah sitting in the dimly lit top level of
Barkatallah's bar last month where she allegedly smelled marijuana.
She left the bar without saying a word to Verveer.

"Trying to make the case, I basically said, 'Look, if it were up to
me, marijuana would not be illegal, but it's not up to me,'"
Cieslewicz said.

According to Cieslewicz, wanting to legalize marijuana is not a policy
proposal from his office.

To become legal, the issue would need to be handled on a state level,
Cieslewicz said. He added the city has to focus its attention on more
important issues.

Rachel Strauch-Nelson, spokesperson for Cieslewicz, said legalizing
marijuana is not a pending decision in the city. If the mayor had more
say about the issue, he would probably be pursuing the matter, she
added.

"I think it's some sort of statement of his opinion," Strauch-Nelson
said.

Regarding the Verveer incident, Cieslewicz said the issue has been
covered thoroughly, and it is now in the past.

Ald. Michael Schumacher, District 18, a member of the Alcohol License
Review Committee, said though he never used marijuana, he has no moral
issue with the drug and no issue with people consuming it in their own
proximity.

If marijuana were to be legalized, Schumacher said he would want the
conditions placed on alcohol - such as no use while driving or
operating heavy machinery - placed on marijuana use.

"If [marijuana] doesn't lead to heavier drug use and it doesn't lead
to unacceptable behavior in public, it certainly helps save resources
and [not] criminalize behavior," he added. "I don't think it really
harms anybody."

Cieslewicz agreed, saying there is not much evidence marijuana is
harmful.

However, Nancy Mistele, challenger in the race for Dane County
Executive said she is confused why Cieslewicz would want to legalize
marijuana.

According to Mistele, Cieslewicz and all members of the City Council
maybe should be subject to drug testing, adding it is the
responsibility of elected officials to uphold the law.

In the 2007-08 Legislature, a bill to legalize medical marijuana in
Wisconsin was devised and spoken about in an information hearing.
However, the bill was not brought to a vote in either house and has
yet to be reintroduced.

"[Marijuana] is certainly widely used in this country for quite a
while, and I don't see the point in continuing to make it illegal,"
Cieslewicz said.

Verveer declined to comment on the issue.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and Madison Police Chief Noble
Wray could not be reached for comment.