MEDICINAL MARIJUANA VOTE FAILS

Committee Not in Favor of Putting Issue on Ballot

A Minneapolis City Council committee decided Tuesday that a medicinal
marijuana initiative doesn't belong on the city ballot this fall.

The unanimous decision by the Intergovernmental Relations Committee
doesn't bode well for those who want to amend the city charter to
include a provision for a medicinal marijuana distribution system. The
full council takes up the matter Friday.

Council Member Lisa Goodman said she's sympathetic to those behind the
medicinal marijuana cause, but she couldn't support such an issue
arising as an amendment to the city charter.

"It's clear to me that the charter isn't the appropriate place to
discuss the issue," Goodman said.

Goodman and other City Council members said the issue should be
addressed as an ordinance if the use of medicinal marijuana becomes
legal.

The Minneapolis Charter Commission recommended against putting the
proposed amendment on the ballot because members say it's inconsistent
with the purpose of the charter, the governing document of the city.

But supporters of putting the issue to a vote in November disagreed.

Jason Samuels of Citizens Organized for Harm Reduction said he was
surprised by the City Council committee's decision. His group filed a
petition with the signatures of nearly 12,000 supporters in favor of
putting the issue up for a citywide vote.

"I think it's profoundly undemocratic," he said.

Even if the charter amendment were put to a November vote and
approved, such a system would have to be legal under state and federal
law.

Minnesota doesn't allow the use of marijuana for medical treatment,
and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule later this year on
federal intervention efforts in California, where voters legalized
medicinal marijuana in 1996.

The committee's decision Tuesday drew criticism from supporters
nationally. Neal Levine, a former Minneapolis resident who now serves
as director of state policies for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana
Policy Project, said he doesn't buy the reasons given by council
members for keeping the proposal off the ballot.

"We are fully prepared to go to court, and to spend whatever it takes
to prevent the city's voters from being disenfranchised," Levine said.