MARIJUANA GROUP TARGETS JACKSONVILLE BEACH FOR DECRIMINALIZATION EFFORT

NORML Wants Jacksonville Beach to Be the State's First City to
Decriminalize Use.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH - When advocates chose Jacksonville Beach as the
first city in Florida to decriminalize marijuana use, they selected a
town that has resisted them for at least a decade.

Six years ago, Jacksonville Beach police arrested the coordinator of
the Hempfest on charges of obstructing justice and inciting an
anti-police mood. Five years earlier, that coordinator and other
Hempfest organizers sued Jacksonville Beach, prompting a court order
that forced the city to drop the phrase "family-oriented events" from
its regulations for issuing a special events permit.

That history is one of the main reasons NORML chose Jacksonville
Beach for its campaign to decriminalize the possession of small
amounts of marijuana, said Ford Banister, president of the
Jacksonville chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws.

NORML wants to get enough voters' signatures for an amendment that
would make possession of 20 grams of marijuana or less a civil
infraction rather than a misdemeanor crime. Under that system, police
could confiscate the marijuana and issue the violator a $100 fine.
Currently, state law calls for up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines.

The organization would need to collect 988 signatures to place the
amendment on the November 2010 ballot, Banister said.

Jacksonville Beach Mayor Fland Sharp said such proposals may float in
California, or in Denver, where some marijuana reform measures have
passed, but not in his town.

"It's probably not who lives here," Sharp said. "I can guarantee that
it's not going to pass in Jacksonville Beach. This is just somebody's
crazy idea."

Sharp also questioned why the group chose Jacksonville Beach.

"Why would they pick us?" he asked. "It's a moot point because it's
never going to happen."

Jacksonville Beach Police Cmdr. Pat Dooley said the Police Department
would not comment on the proposal because it's a political issue, not
a police issue.

NORML's Banister said he was disappointed by Sharp's "knee jerk
reaction" but is confident the group will get the support it needs
through citizen education and participation. Among other things,
minimizing the enforcement of marijuana laws would reduce government
spending and free up police officers for other activities, he said.

"I think they will come around to our point of view," Banister said.

He said NORML also chose Jacksonville Beach because lot of its
members live in the city and because the number of signatures
required to place the amendment on the ballot is based on 10 percent
of the registered voters. Those petitions must be turned in to the
elections office by Feb. 1, he said.

"It's certainly an easier nut to crack than Jacksonville," Banister said.

But Hempfest's problems with Jacksonville Beach still register in
Banister's memory.

Jacksonville Beach was the original site of the Jacksonville Hempfest
in 1998. That year, its coordinators, Scott Bledsoe and the Cannabis
Action Network, sued the city, saying its special events permitting
requirements for "family-oriented" events violated their free speech rights.

U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger ordered a permanent
injunction, saying the city's policy created a chilling effect on
free speech rights. The city revised its policy so that it was
"content neutral" about the type of events it allowed.

Then at the 2003 Hempfest, police arrested Bledsoe on charges of
obstructing justice, accusing him of pointing out undercover officers
and inciting an anti-police atmosphere at the SeaWalk Pavilion.
Another Hempfest participant, Ronnie Smith, was arrested on a charge
of marijuana possession.

"It [Jacksonville Beach] has an ugly record of putting down this type
of debate," Banister said, noting that charges were dropped against
Smith and Bledsoe.

Over time, the term "family-oriented" has morphed into
"family-friendly." Jacksonville Beach City Council members used the
phrase in 2000, when they reduced the number of summer weekend
festivals that were, as one councilman said, creating a "partylike
atmosphere" downtown.

The phrase came up again in June 2007 during a series of public
visioning sessions, which included 100 citizens, to create a set of
development guidelines and principals for the Downtown Vision Plan.

Banister said NORML plans to hold a protest in downtown Jacksonville
Beach on Sunday, and will make petitions available then.