MARIJUANA SHIPMENT SITS IDLE

VERONA -- It's been nearly three months since the Augusta County
Sheriff's Office made its biggest marijuana seizure in the
department's history when it grabbed 1,840 pounds of packaged dope
hidden inside a truck at American Safety Razor's industrial division
headquarters in Verona.

However, the marijuana, each 23-pound bale triple-wrapped in tinfoil,
brown shipping paper and plastic, remains stacked inside a locked
evidence room at the sheriff's office, the space permeated by the
pungent odor of the illegal drug. Drug dealers, buoyed by a seemingly
never-ending demand in the United States, would have had no problem
unloading the marijuana. The sheriff's office, tasked with getting
rid of the shipment, is finding it a bit harder to make the stack
disappear.

In years past, the Augusta Regional Landfill was used to dispose of
drugs, but the sheriff's office no longer uses the landfill to
swallow its drug seizures. Even if it did, a shipment as large as the
March bust would not have been buried at the landfill for fear it
would tempt too many human "gophers" into digging around, officials
said.

Sheriff Randy Fisher said he tried to offer the marijuana to a
federal agency for training purposes, but noted "they have all they
need."

Fisher said he's now leaning toward incinerating the entire stash,
but he declined to name where and when that would take place. "We'll
probably burn it all at once," he said. "The ideal time would be 2
a.m."

The marijuana in question was eventually traced backed to Mexico, but
a federal investigation into its specific origin went cold, Fisher
said. The truck driver, unaware the pot had been loaded onto ASR's
shipment, was cleared.

While huge marijuana seizures aren't the norm for these parts, for
many, smoking pot is. Referencing the nearly 2,000 pounds of seized
marijuana, Fisher said, "That amount would probably be smoked up in
30 to 60 days in Augusta County."

Possession

Pot smokers, though, face perils. Since 2006, statistics show more
than 1,200 misdemeanor arrests for marijuana possession have been
made by the sheriff's office and the Staunton and Waynesboro police
departments.

It is often argued by advocates for the decriminalization of
marijuana that casual users of pot are getting tossed in jail on a
routine basis, a notion Police Chief Jim Williams of the Staunton
Police Department doesn't support.

"We don't spend a lot of time looking for people smoking pot," the
chief said. "We're looking for drug dealers. That's what our drug
people spend their time on."

Typically, a first-time offender caught with a small amount of
marijuana is issued a summons to appear in court, Williams said. A
person caught with an ounce or less of marijuana faces a maximum of
30 days in jail and a possible $500 fine.

While acknowledging that many users who smoke marijuana don't go on
to abuse harder drugs, Williams noted it's still considered a gateway
drug.

"It seems to me not too many people start snorting cocaine first.
It's usually marijuana or alcohol," he said.

Chief Doug Davis of the Waynesboro Police Department agrees marijuana
is a gateway drug, and said he would support neither legalizing nor
decriminalizing it.

"I don't see where the difference it," Davis said. "I think, like
alcohol, it needs to be controlled."

Decriminalization sought

Marijuana advocate Dee Duffy, executive director for Virginia's
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is on the
front lines pushing for the decriminalization of marijuana. Duffy
provided statistics from www.drugscience.org that show 19,726 people
in Virginia were arrested on marijuana charges in 2007, representing
55 percent of the state's drug arrests.

Asked if Virginia is ready for the decriminalization of marijuana,
she said, "I think so, more and more. There are still some
roadblocks." One of the biggest roadblock is the United States Drug
Enforcement Administration, Duffy said.

"They still have it listed as a Schedule I narcotic." The
classification puts marijuana in the same category as heroin, LSD,
psilocybin ("magic" mushrooms) and GHB ("date-rape" drug).

Duffy, 51, said another push by Virginia NORML is to "un-stereotype"
marijuana. "It's the old perception of dirty hippies sitting on the
lawn," she said.

Far from the hippie stereotype is Del. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester, a
79-year-old Virginia lawmaker and pharmacist who saw his bill to
decriminalize marijuana die in subcommittee earlier this year. Morgan
sought to make possession of an ounce or less or five plants or
fewer a civil offense with a $250 penalty for first-time offenders.
Morgan, who has never used marijuana, said too many people busted for
possession end up being denied jobs they would otherwise be
qualified for, such as teaching or government positions.

"It's a barrier crime," Morgan said. "It's so inappropriate."

Morgan, who does not favor legalization, tried three similar bills in
the past that sought the eventual expungement of marijuana possession
charges, but those failed as well in General Assembly. "I just think
the punishment should fit the crime," he said.

The pharmacist also feels it's "ridiculous" that the federal
government continues to list marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic.
"It's no more habit-forming than caffeine. Nobody has ever died from
an overdose," he said.

Morgan said he again will introduce a bill to decriminalize marijuana
in Virginia, and said the measure could eventually succeed within
five years. "I would hope so. It's happening all over the country,"
he said.