POT PROPOSITION FAILS

Supporters Say They Were Still Successful

Even in defeat, supporters of Proposition 1 felt like they'd made a difference.

Columbia voters on Tuesday turned down a proposal to legalize the medical
use of marijuana and soften municipal penalties. Final returns showed the
measure failing, 57.8 percent to 42.2 percent.

"The numbers sound like it's a pretty substantial victory," Columbia Police
Chief Randy Boehm said late Tuesday night. "I would think this would be the
end of it for awhile."

Boehm said he would keep in place a policy he firmed up in response to the
ballot issue, a directive that officers send simple possession cases of 35
grams or less to Municipal Court.

"We kind of look at it as if we've already partially won," Amy Fritz,
deputy treasurer of the Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education, said
during a gathering of Proposition 1 supporters at the Colosseum Bistro. "We
led the police chief to look at his practice," she said, "and that's a
victory in and of itself."

Proposition 1 was behind from the start. "After the first results came in,
we knew we were a long shot," said Anthony Johnson, author of the proposed
ordinance. "We just accepted the fact that we were likely going to lose.
I'm not going to be inconsolable."

Opponents of marijuana decriminalization breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm delighted, and feel this has been a good experience for us," said Eve
Pearson, president of the Mid-Missouri Coalition on Adolescent
Concerns/Community 2000. "It has been a wake-up call for our community. A
lot of us were educated on how mainstream this drug has become."

The fight over Proposition 1 attracted the attention of the White House.
Scott Burns, deputy director of state and local affairs for the Office of
National Drug Control Policy, came to Columbia on Thursday with a message
from President Bush: The administration does not condone the 'softening' of
marijuana laws.

On Election Day, Burns faxed a statement on Proposition 1, saying: "The
federal government will continue to get out the truth regarding marijuana
and will aggressively support local efforts to educate and inform the
public about the dangers of marijuana. No community is better off with drugs."

Proponents were not pleased with the national attention. Dan Viets,
president of the Missouri chapter of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, and Johnson questioned the legality of Burns'
visit, saying that Burns was using taxpayer money to campaign against a
ballot measure.

"At all levels, we had to fight government and public funding," Viets said.

Opponents also said Burns was spreading misinformation, asserting that
there was no evidence to support any of his claims that marijuana use would
increase if the ordinance were to pass.

On election day, Fritz said, she and other members of CAPE went door to
door to mobilize supporters, remind them to vote, and to offer rides to the
polls.

Last fall, Johnson drafted the proposed ordinance with the help of Viets, a
lawyer. Supporters gathered more than enough valid signatures for a
petition to bring the ordinance to a vote before the City Council. The
council panned the ordinance on a 6-1 vote, sending the initiative to voters.

The margin of defeat was similar to a measure that went before Columbia
voters in 1985. That measure did not include medicinal use of marijuana but
would have reduced fines for possession of 35 grams or less for first-time
offenders and send all possession cases of 35 grams or less to Municipal
Court. The 1985 proposal was defeated 57 percent to 43 percent.

Johnson said he was disappointed by Tuesday's results but not discouraged.
iIt showed that a small group can get their voices heard. "They can stand
up for what they believe in, and get noticed," he said.

Viets said that while he's not sure of what the next step will be, "we can
all agree that medicinal marijuana is important." He talked about a bill in
the Missouri House of Representatives, sponsored by Columbia Rep. Vicky
Riback Wilson, that would make medicinal marijuana legal in the state of
Missouri.

"We got a committee hearing because the Republican chair, a doctor, thinks
this is important," Viets said. "This will be our focus for the time being."

Unlike the united front of law enforcement officials, the medical community
was somewhat divided on Proposition 1.

Ali Khojasteh, a medical oncologist with practices in Columbia and
Jefferson City, cited alternatives to marijuana that were already legal. "I
think that this is a reflection of the people who recognize the fact that
this type of proposition ultimately is going to be harmful to the young
people," he said. "People logically can see that there is an alternative to
marijuana available now, medically."

Clay Anderson, an oncologist at the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, supports
the use of medicinal marijuana and decriminalization to allow studies of
the drug's medical benefits.

"I'm just glad that we all got a chance to talk about it and learn more
about it, and cast our ballot," he said. "I think this time, we didn't make
any substantive step, but we made progress anyway."