POT PETITIONS AIM FOR SPOT ON CITY BALLOT

Proponents Say Changes Strengthen Plan.

Nineteen months after Columbia voters rejected marijuana
decriminalization proposals, they might again be asked to approve
medical uses of marijuana and lesser penalties for possessing small
amounts of the drug.

Groups in favor of altering the city's marijuana laws are collecting
signatures to place the proposals on another ballot. This time,
supporters are seeking two ballot initiatives - one to address use of
marijuana for medical reasons and one to lessen penalties for possession.

Although the initiatives discuss the same themes as April 2003
proposals, supporters say they have added nuances to mellow voter
opposition.

"The initiatives are different than the last one, and part of that is
a response to different people's concerns with the last initiative,"
said Amber Langston, president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy at
the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Langston's organization and others have been circulating the
petitions. Both measures would alter city ordinances related to marijuana.

One initiative would ensure "seriously ill adults" could obtain a
misdemeanor amount of marijuana on a physician's recommendation
without being arrested or prosecuted.

The other initiative requires that misdemeanor marijuana cases
involving adults would be referred to municipal court rather than
state court. It makes the maximum fine for such possession $250 and
encourages alternative sentences of community service or drug counseling.

Missouri statutes define misdemeanor marijuana possession as holding
less than 35 grams.

In April 2003, Columbia voters rejected a single ballot initiative
addressing both the medical and misdemeanor marijuana issues. Nearly
58 percent of 18,090 Columbia voters opposed the measure. The bulk of
support for the proposition came from the center of the city and the
East Campus neighborhood. Seven of eight First Ward precincts and four
of seven Sixth Ward precincts approved the measure, and only five of
29 precincts in the remaining wards supported it.

The proposal drew opposition from some children's advocates and
Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, who warned the proposition would
violate state law.

Dan Viets, a Columbia attorney specializing in drug cases and an
advocate for changing marijuana laws, said the new ballot initiatives
have language substantially different from the 2003 proposals. The
$250 fine for possession is 10 times the amount set in the previous
measure, and there's an emphasis on alternative sentencing.

The latest initiatives also clarify that the laws only apply to
adults. Viets said the previous initiatives didn't specifically say
that, a point that worried voters.

"If a person is not an adult as defined by state law, then none of
this is going to apply to them," Viets said. "It will not affect
juvenile cases, in other words."

Viets also said he sees the possession ordinance as clarifying
existing policy. Since last year's vote, Columbia police have been
sending misdemeanor possession cases to municipal court except when
extenuating circumstances exist. Keeping cases in municipal courts let
college students retain eligibility for federal student loans, which
Viets called "our main goal."

To place an initiative on Columbia's November ballot, advocates need
2,276 signatures from registered voters by June 28, the city clerk
said. That amount is 20 percent of the voters in the last mayoral
election. Langston said supporters have about 1,500 signatures, but
she doesn't know how many of those are valid.