POT PROPOSITION NOT JUST A LOSS

Best Not-So-Lost Cause

It is a shame that Proposition 1, which would have drastically reduced
fines for marijuana users and would have decriminalized medical marijuana
in Columbia, didn't pass. The proposition was one of the few examples where
student and community activism stretched beyond pointless protests and
rhetoric and attempted to create actual change in Columbia.

From writing the proposition, collecting the 1,191 signatures needed to
put the proposition on the ballot, and actually driving voters to the
polls, everyone involved put an almost inhuman amount of effort behind the
proposal.

And although Prop. 1 ultimately failed, the efforts of its creators were
not in vain. On March 24, Columbia
(http://www.ci.columbia.mo.us/dept/police) Police Department Chief Randy
Boehm announced that after examining Prop. 1, he had decided to change CPD
policy so that a first offense involving less than 35 grams of marijuana
will automatically go to municipal court.

This means a student arrested for a minor marijuana offense would not be in
danger of losing his or her federal financial aid, as long as it is the
first offense.

Through their efforts, MU students and the Missouri chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and everyone else involved in
supporting Proposition 1 have assured that future MU students won't forfeit
their future for using a substance less dangerous than alcohol.