COUNCIL TO VOTE ON LAW REVISIONS TO POT ORDINANCE

Tomorrow's Columbia City Council meeting is, eventually, going to pot.

The council will take up a student-led petition that would lessen fines for
marijuana possession, clarify how misdemeanor possession cases should be
handled and change city law to allow for medicinal marijuana use.

The initiative is surfacing before the council after students from a group
that calls itself Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education collected
enough signatures to put the issue on the April 8 ballot.

"My prediction is that the city council will vote no and set it for an
election," said Anthony Johnson, a University of Missouri-Columbia law
student and president of the campus chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union.

Johnson said that a number of speakers will address the council at its 7
p.m. meeting.

Under the city's charter, the council must either vote for or against the
ordinance. If the proposed ordinance is denied, it will be sent to voters in
the April 8 election. If it is approved, city code would be effectively
changed and the measure would not go before voters.

Asked about the proposal, Third Ward Councilman Bob Hutton said he worries
about the legal implications of amending city laws 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."

Proponents point out that the petition has a severance clause, which means
that the medicinal marijuana clause of the ordinance could be dropped if
courts later strike it down. This could be done without negating the other
aspects of the ordinance.

As for the rest of the petition, which would refer all possession cases of
35 grams or less to the city prosecutor, and not state courts, Hutton said
he had a couple problems.

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

Under current law, those 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.

The proposed ordinance would make those cases punishable only by fines, with
a first time offense carrying a fine of $25, $50 for a second offense, $100
for a third offense and $500 on subsequent offenses.

John John, a councilman who represents the Fifth Ward, said he worries that
passing the ordinance would send a message of tolerance to youths.

"This 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."

Johnson said he wrote the ordinance after learning that MU students could
lose their federal financial aid if convicted of a drug offense through
state courts.

Students convicted of possession of a controlled substance at the state
court level are not eligible to receive any grant, loan or work assistance
for one year after the first conviction, two years after the second and
indefinitely after a third conviction.

Johnson said he believes the community will pass the ordinance by a narrow
margin.