JAIL STILL APPROACHES STATE-ENFORCED CAPACITY

NORML Official Says Legalizing Pot For Medication Could Ease Load

County jail crowding, a situation being monitored by the state health
department, has persisted over the past month, Cleveland County
commissioners were told Monday.

A jail report indicates an average population of 167 in the County
Detention Center last week is dangerously near the maximum 177 the
state says the jail can safely hold. Exceeding the jail limit could
result in hefty fines levied against the county, commissioners were
recently warned.

Former Norman Assistant Police Chief Neil Vickers, hired as a
temporary consultant to expedite turnover in the jail, said he is
working with county judges and the district attorney to speed court
appearances, release low risk inmates without bonds and obtain
electronic monitoring for others, pending court dates.

In April, three inmates jailed in lieu of fines and restitution were
released on their own recognizance and another two were turned out to
be monitored by electronic devices until their court appearances, Vickers said.

The jail burden could be lessened further if other states' medical
marijuana laws were honored here, a woman said Monday. Norma Sapp,
state director of the National Organizatin for Reform of Marijuana
Laws (NORML) said 11 other states now have laws permitting the
documented use of marijuana for medical purposes. She said she is
seeking support from county commissioners throughout the state for
revising Oklahoma's marijuana laws.

Sapp said NORML seeks to prevent the arrest of state visitors who
carry medical cards certifying them to use marijuana as medication
for health problems. Oklahoma needs to consider honoring other
states' medical marijuana laws and avoid jailing those who
legitimately use the drug, she said. "It costs the county money to
jail these people."

In his weekly report to the commissioners Monday, Vickers said 189
prisoners were in county custody during the week of April 27-May 3,
including 20 prisoners a day kept in the Pottawatomie County Jail.
Cleveland County's jail headcount averaged a high of 171 on April 30
and 173 on May 2, Vickers' report indicates. The jail had a low of
158 inmates on April 27. The jail tally throughout April averaged
159, in addition to the 20 in the Pottawatomie County Jail in Ada.

Sapp said her campaign to gain state acceptance of the use of
marijuana for medical treatment began last week when she learned a
mother and daughter passing through Oklahoma had been jailed in
Beckham County for possessing a quantity of cannabis leaves.

Sapp said the older woman, like many others using marijuana as
medication, could not tolerate the effects of the drug in its capsule
form. "She had a California medical card authorizing her to use
marijuana for a back condition," Sapp said. The woman and her
daughter, "who didn't even smoke marijuana," made a plea agreement on
a charge of intent to distribute marijuana and are now serving a
90-day jail term, Sapp said.

Cleveland County Attorney Tim Kuykendall, present at the
commissioners' meeting, said the NORML request to commissioners is
misdirected. "Your comments would be better addressed to the
Legislature," Kuykendall advised Sapp. "County commissioners are not
in the position to change state laws."

In other matters Monday, the commissioners:

Awarded a bid for $21,690 to Horton Transfer -- Storage of Oklahoma
City to move the county administrative departments back to the County
Office Building once its renovation is completed. No precise date has
been scheduled for the move.

Awarded one-year open-ended bids to various vendors for county
highway and bridge materials, tires and tubes, and office supplies,
furniture and equipment.

Awarded a one-year $9,500 bid to Dimensional Concepts, Inc. for
database management service for the sheriff's department.

The next meeting of the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners is
scheduled at 9 a.m. May 15 in the County Fairgrounds Building, 605 E.
Robinson St.