DECRIMINALIZING MARIJUANA WILL HELP POLICE FIGHT CRIME

Editor, the Tribune: This is a sample letter to the mayor urging him to
vote yes on Proposition 1 on Tuesday.

Dear Mayor Darwin Hindman: I am writing to urge you to vote to
decriminalize marijuana. There is nothing to fear by decriminalizing,
because in the 11 states that have adopted this policy, use has remained
the same. I recently read a Tribune letter to the editor where someone
claimed that the ordinance would increase misdemeanor possession levels by
700 percent. I know that our misdemeanor possession amount has been 35
grams for more than 30 years, and the ordinance does nothing to change this
amount.

Our city's police would be in a better position to arrest people for
serious crimes such as driving while intoxicated, driving under the
influence of drugs and other violent crimes if they did not have to spend
so much time arresting people who experiment with marijuana. Most people do
not know that after arresting people for misdemeanor marijuana offenses,
police either give them a ticket or send them to jail. Our city also
arrests seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana to treat diseases
such as cancer, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. Some patients use medical
marijuana to offset the nausea caused by medications.

Vote yes to decriminalize marijuana to encourage higher education, protect
patients' human rights and to make Columbia a safer place.

Sarah Duff
15 N. Tenth St.