CALL TO CUT CITY'S POT PENALTIES IS REJECTED

Organizers of an initiative drive to reduce the penalties for minor
marijuana possession showed up at City Hall with seven boxes of
petition signatures Thursday, only to have their dreams nipped in the
bud.

The drive went to pot after the Tucson city clerk refused to accept
the petitions, based on advice from the city attorney, who said the
state constitution prohibits city voters from amending state criminal
statutes through the initiative process.

Stuart Green, one of the organizers of the effort, said the group
plans to consult with attorneys to figure out the next step.

That could include an appeal to Pima County Superior Court or asking
the City Council to refer the matter directly to the November ballot.
Thursday was the deadline for submitting initiative petitions.

City Clerk Roger Randolph said his office gave the group correct
information in February, when members initially took out petitions,
that the city wouldn't be able to accept the signatures. He said he
wasn't able to deny the group a petition number on the front end -
since the city can't weed out who gets to circulate petitions - but
could decline to let them file it.

City officials then sent two letters in February outlining their
position.

Volunteers nevertheless spent many hours circulating petitions on a
$500 shoestring budget. Green declined to say how many signatures were
collected, other than to say he believed they went beyond the required
threshold of 9,534.

Organizer Michelle B. Graye, wearing a "Hemp, Hemp Hooray" pin, said
the city is infringing on her right to petition the government for a
redress of grievances.

The two contend the effort is not considerably different in theory
from the state initiative for medical marijuana, which flies in the
face of federal laws making sale and possession a felony.

The state, which is refusing to accept applications from those who
want to run their own medical-marijuana joints, is asking a federal
judge if it can proceed with the program.

But Green maintains the city should have the ability to choose its
enforcement priorities and how it prosecutes nuisances, pointing to a
decision by voters in Ann Arbor, Mich., in the 1970s to treat
possession like a parking ticket, charging $5 for violations, while
still pursuing large-scale drug dealers.

The Sensible Tucson initiative would reduce the penalty for a
first-time possession offense of less than 2.5 ounces to a fine of
$25. Even a third or subsequent offense would warrant a fine no larger
than $75.

Sgt. Matt Ronstadt, a spokesman for the Tucson Police Department, said
the department made 2,900 arrests for possession of marijuana, and
another 1,890 arrests for paraphernalia in 2010 - although those
statistics made no distinction between felony and misdemeanor charges,
which are typically based on weight.

But he said the threshold for a felony is really high. Anything under
2 pounds is charged as a misdemeanor, he said. Although that amount is
a felony under federal law, it generally gets downgraded by the time
it hits the County Attorney's Office.

Green said public safety is his higher aim, since marijuana pursuits
cut into time that could be spent chasing down harder drugs. "This
would free up our Police Department to pursue things like black tar
heroin or meth."