COUNCIL SETS POT REVISION FOR ELECTION

Voters Get Proposed Ordinance April 8.

The Columbia City Council opted not to support an ordinance that would
change the city's marijuana laws last night and instead referred the issue
to voters.

Only John Coffman, the outgoing councilman from East Campus' Sixth Ward,
voted in favor of the initiative, which would have reduced fines and
sentences for those caught with small amounts of marijuana and legalized it
for medicinal purposes.

After congratulating the stream of students and community members who spoke
in favor of the ordinance, Coffman said he believes marijuana is
"misclassified" with harder drugs such as cocaine and heroine.

"I intend to support this, despite whatever legal conflicts there might
be," he said. "I think it is a fair and reasonable incremental approach" to
drug law reform.

The majority of the council didn't support the ordinance for a variety of
reasons, including concern about passing a law in conflict with state
statutes, questions about the language of the initiative and police opposition.

Fourth Ward Councilman Jim Loveless said he would rather have voters decide
the "volatile issue."

"Marijuana laws are a mess in this country," he said. "Maybe there is
something to be said for making changes from the bottom up instead of the
top down, but I don't see how the council can make a law contrary to state
law."

Council members were forced to vote on the issue after a group of
University of Missouri-Columbia students got enough signatures to file a
petition to amend the city's marijuana ordinances.

Under the city charter, the council had to either approve the ordinance and
change city code or reject the ordinance and place it on the April 8 ballot.

Anthony Johnson, the MU law student who wrote the initiative with help from
local attorney Dan Viets, said he became interested in changing the city's
drug laws after learning that students convicted of drug offenses in state
court would lose their financial aid for one year.

Johnson told the council that his group, Columbia Alliance for Patients and
Education, was not a bunch of "hippie pot smokers." Rather, they are
residents who want to protect student financial aid and the rights of
seriously ill patients, he said.

The proposed ordinance would allow seriously ill citizens to possess up to
35 grams of marijuana for medicinal purposes upon the recommendation of a
physician.

Joshua Judy, senator for the Missouri Student Association, also spoke in
support of the proposed ordinance.

Only one audience member, 90-year-old Waldo Palmer, spoke in opposition to
the ordinance. Clearly frustrated, Palmer said, "I must have come out of
different generation because I was taught that you shouldn't violate the law."

Palmer said he didn't buy the argument that students caught with small
amounts of marijuana should only be sent to city court. "If we're going to
finance them," he said of students receiving state aid, "they should follow
the law."

Under existing law, anyone convicted of possessing 35 grams of marijuana or
less - a misdemeanor offense - can receive a maximum sentence of one year
in jail and a $1,000 fine.

While most cases involving 10 grams of marijuana or less are already
handled in municipal court, police have discretion to send cases to state
courts.

Columbia Police Chief Randy Boehm said last night that the system already
works well because it gives officers the ability to heighten charges if
there are extenuating circumstances, as when violators are arrested at a
known drug house.

Much like a parking or traffic ticket, the proposed ordinance would send
all persons charged with possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana to
municipal court. Fines would be dropped to $25 for a first offense, $50 for
a second offense, $100 for a third offense and $500 on subsequent offenses