SNUFFED POT INITIATIVE QUESTIONED

Group Says City Blocking Measure

City Denies Pot Ballot Initiative

Blunt is one way to describe the response by Tallahassee officials to
a petition to soften marijuana enforcement in the city.

Unfortunately for local supporters of the initiative, it may be some
time before smoking a blunt - slang for a type of marijuana cigarette
- - is more acceptable.

Earlier this month, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Nikki Clark ruled
that a proposed city charter amendment to make marijuana a low
priority offense was in conflict with state law and could not be
placed on the Nov. 2 ballot, despite the petition collecting the
required number signatures to be put before voters. Tallahasseans for
Practical Law Enforcement, the political action group that started the
petition drive, thinks the city is purposely blocking the referendum
from getting on the ballot.

"We are not changing the law," said Michael Tiner, one of the
organizers of the campaign. "It simply sends the message to police and
the city that marijuana should be the lowest priority. It's still
illegal, but the police could be spending their time solving other
crimes."

The petition called for low-priority enforcement of adult personal use
of marijuana - defined as the possession of less than 20 grams of the
illegal weed by anyone at least 18 years old. If caught, offenders
would get a ticket or a fine.

Selling or distributing marijuana would still be strictly enforced.

According to Rick Courtemanche, legal adviser for the city's Police
Department, offenders caught with less than 20 grams of marijuana are
charged with a first-degree misdemeanor and anything above that nets a
felony charge.

For misdemeanor amounts, officers usually issue notices to appear in
court and don't book violators into county jail. Courtemanche said
most misdemeanor charges are tacked onto some other arrestable offense.

City Attorney Jim English argues that the TPLE's request would change
the law.

According to a state law adopted in 1973, marijuana is on a list with
illegal drugs such as cocaine as top priorities for drug control and
enforcement. The law can not be changed or modified on the local
level, according to Clark's written judgment. She also ruled that the
petition suffered from several technical flaws in the language
proposed to go on the ballot.

English said the city turned to the courts to see whether the request
was legal, not to block the initiative.

"There were three pretty obvious problems with the petition, but the
one most critical is the conflict with existing state law," he said.
"There have been moves all around the country for marijuana law
reform. This was an interesting attempt to sort of come through the
back door, but they still have to change the state law first."

TPLE was depending on severable favorable rulings on marijuana reform
in other states to propel its efforts to amend the city charter.

Since 1973, 12 state legislatures -- Alaska, California, Colorado,
Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North
Carolina, Ohio and Oregon -- have enacted versions of marijuana
decriminalization.

TPLE's proposed ballot language mirrored the words used in Seattle
last year, when voters approved a similar amendment to lower
marijuana's priority status. Seattle also established a city panel to
monitor enforcement.

Dominic Holden, who led the efforts in Seattle and currently sits on
the city's marijuana review panel, said his campaign faced similar
opposition.

"I am not surprised the city of Tallahassee is willing to use
questionable practices to stop this issue from going to the voters,"
he said. "It's safe to say that law enforcement uses a wide array of
discretion when it comes to marijuana cases. To claim they don't have
that discretion is entirely disingenuous."

Richard Bradford, who started the local grass roots campaign, said he
felt local taxpayer dollars were wasted every time a marijuana case
was prosecuted. As the former president of the Florida State
University chapter of the National Organization for Reform of
Marijuana Laws, he said he had strong support from many of the
students and some faculty members.

In three months, the TPLE had collected close to 8,500 signatures of
registered city voters in support of its cause, qualifying the
petition to get on the ballot.

Although many students signed the petition, Bradford said the campaign
targeted other areas of the community, which gave him hope that the
proposed amendment would pass if it went to a vote.

"Ultimately, we want to change a marijuana charge from a criminal
offense to a fine. It's too hard to do on a state level so we thought
this could jump start something," he said.

But state legislators have also frowned upon marijuana law
reform.

The last attempt to change a state marijuana law was in 2002, when the
state NORML chapter attempted to make it legal to use marijuana for
medicinal purposes. The effort received little legislative support and
never made it on the ballot.

Allen Turnage, state chairman of NORML, said his organization's main
goal is to change penalties for marijuana offenses to those of traffic
offenses such as speeding.

He admitted that altering the priority level of law enforcement would
be a hard sell and could cause problems.

"As a matter of public policy in an ideal world, this is good idea. It
would set things in a priority theme," said Turnage, who was recently
defeated for a spot on the City Commission. "As a practical matter, I
realize that there are some problems with it. You have to let the
police set their own enforcement schemes."

Still, Tiner and Bradford don't plan on giving up their fight.

The group is contemplating appealing the decision and Bradford said he
has been trying to set up meetings with city commissioners to discuss
a possible change. He said only one commissioner, Debbie Lightsey, has
shown interest in meeting with the group.

"It's a matter of where do you want your money and law enforcement
directed, on real crimes or on people smoking a joint in their own
homes?" Tiner said. "We feel very confident the residents of
Tallahassee don't think marijuana should be a high priority."