UNDER PROP. 2, POT STILL FAR FROM LEGAL

Who knows what runs through a person's mind when he or she decides to do
something as deplorable as shooting a police officer. Perhaps it's anger,
fear or simply a deep seeded hatred for law enforcement. But anyone who
suggests that marijuana was a central factor in Rick Evans' desire to shoot
officers Molly Bowden and Curtis Brown must be wearing a blindfold, or
perhaps ignoring Evans' repeated anger management problems or admitted
obsession with the idea of killing police officers.

Either that, or they are using an extremely sensitive issue such as
Bowden's death to get the emotional backing for their own political agenda,
namely getting Columbia's marijuana ordinances repealed.

Sterling Infield, Columbia Police Officers Association president, has
linked Proposition 2 -- which limits the punishment for possessing small
amounts of marijuana to a fine in municipal courts and does not strip
students of financial aid on their first offense -- to Evans' shooting
spree because Evans had several prior convictions for small amounts of
marijuana. But Proposition 2 does not decriminalize the drug.

It seems Infield and other members of the CPOA are stuck on the idea that
Proposition 2 provides some kind of incentive for smoking pot, and
consequentially, the incentive to commit crimes. But the real motive behind
the ordinance, which voters overwhelmingly approved in November, is to
prevent college students from losing their scholarships and financial aid
if they are caught once with a small amount of marijuana. There is nothing
violent about that.

Using the untimely death of a fellow officer as a tool to gain political
leverage is a disgusting way to prove a point against an ordinance voters
supported in large proportion. Repealing Proposition 2 wouldn't change
anything in the behavior of men like Evans -- but it could destroy the
lives of some who still have promise.