COLUMBIA, MO., WILL CONSIDER EASING POT LAWS

COLUMBIA, Mo. - A group of students at the University of Missouri at
Columbia has gathered enough signatures to force a vote in the city on
legalizing marijuana for medical use and reducing penalties for those
caught with small amounts of the drug.

The Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education collected enough
signatures to put the issue on the April 8 ballot. The City Council will
vote Tuesday on whether to pass the proposed ordinance or put the matter
before voters.

"My prediction is that the City Council will vote no and set it for an
election," said Anthony Johnson, a university law student who wrote the
proposed ordinance.

Johnson also is president of the campus chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union. He predicted that voters would pass the measure by a
narrow margin.

The proposed ordinance would reduce the penalty for those caught with 35
grams or less of marijuana from up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine to
no jail time and a fine of $25 for a first offense, $50 for a second
offense, $100 for a third offense and $500 on subsequent offenses. Such
cases also would be referred to the city prosecutor, instead of state courts.

City Councilman John John said that passing the proposed ordinance "would
create two problems. One, it encourages the use of marijuana and two,
you've got to get it to use it," John said. "Ultimately, distribution would
also be encouraged."

Councilman Bob Hutton said he worried about the legal implications of
amending city ordinances to legalize something deemed illegal by state and
federal statutes.

"The part I would be most in favor of is the medicinal use, but I don't
think we could do it because of state law," Hutton said. "The city can't
make an ordinance for something that is against state law."

Hutton said: "I'm not dead set against it. The only problem I have is that
the fines are very small," he said.