PROP. 1 FAILURE EFFECTS REACH BEYOND COLUMBIA

The defeat of Proposition 1 in the April 8 municipal election is likely to
affect the drug law reform movement as a whole, both supporters and
opponents of the measure said.

The election was a setback for those who want to reform the nation's
marijuana laws, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"Those in control of drug policy have said this is a war," St. Pierre said.
"It's pretty clear that in a war, when we lose a battle, it can't be
measured as a good thing."

The failure of Proposition 1 could come back to haunt his cause, St. Pierre
said.

"Opponents of drug law reform often cite these losses as evidence showing
that the public does not support reforming drug laws," he said. "Also, its
hard to get funding for efforts that don't succeed."

But despite its failure, Proposition 1 helped show proponents what works
and what doesn't work in campaigning for such measures, Missouri NORML
coordinator Dan Viets said.

"We could have probably written the proposal in a different way," Viets
said. "As it was, there wasn't much opportunity for give and take. Viets
and several other Columbia residents who actively campaigned for the
proposition which would have reduced the penalty for marajuana in Columbia
will speak at the annual NORML conference in San Francisco this weekend
about lessons that can be learned from the proposition's failure.

Viets said one positive development that came because of Proposition 1 was
the Columbia Police (http://www.ci.columbia.mo.us/dept/police) Department's
decision to send all first offenses involving 35 grams of marijuana or less
to municipal court.

"We didn't get everything we wanted, but we got a big chunk through the
police chief changing his policy," Viets said.

Columbia Police Chief Randy Boehm has said the proposed ordinance led the
police department to reexamine the way it treats marijuana offenses.
Proposition 1's failure was partly a result of spotty voting behavior of
college students, St. Pierre said.

"Students are notorious for not registering to vote," he said. "When you
are going to run initiatives in large university towns, even while you may
poll really well, it is very hard to count on student voters."

But Peggy Quigg, executive director of ACT Missouri, an organization that
campaigned against the proposition, said the bill's failure was mostly
because of voters' awareness of the dangers of marijuana.

"There is a lot of confusion out about this issue," Quigg said. "I think
that when people get more informed about marijuana, they can make an
informed decision. That's what caused the failure of this proposition."

Quigg said ACT would continue to fight against any efforts to loosen
marijuana laws in Missouri.