UNDER THE DOME

Senate Panel To Consider Drug Issues

MONTPELIER -- What Dr. Kathleen Daye really wants is for Vermont to
legalize marijuana. She'll take it one step at a time, though, and
travel to the Statehouse on Wednesday to urge legislators to
decriminalize possession of the drug.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing Wednesday
evening of two pieces of legislation -- one that would decriminalize
small amounts of marijuana and one that would toughen penalties for
trafficking heroin and cocaine.

"I think both are public policy issues that ought to be explored,"
said committee Chairman Richard Sears, D-Bennington.

Sears, who sponsored the drug trafficking bill, is less enthusiastic
about the marijuana legislation, which calls for making possession of
4 ounces or less a civil penalty rather than a criminal one.
Offenders would receive something akin to a traffic ticket instead of
a criminal summons.

"I'm leery of the amount being discussed," Sears said. "I would
consider decriminalizing smaller amounts."

Sen. Hinda Miller, D-Chittenden, a lead sponsor of the marijuana
bill, said for her it's about prioritizing resources.

"I sit on Appropriations, and we do not have enough resources to make
good on all our promises," she said. "It's time to be realistic and
look at the world as it is."

"I think it clogs up our court system with things I don't necessarily
believe are a crime," said Sen. Jeannette White, D-Windham, who also
sponsored the bill.

Winooski Police Chief Steve McQueen disagreed.

"It's not burdening our court system," he said.

Those charged with first-offense possession of a small amount of
marijuana are usually sent through court diversion or referred to a
local reparative board, he said. They serve no prison time and come
away with no criminal record.

If marijuana were decriminalized, he said, those same people would
probably pay the fine and carry it on their record for life.

McQueen has other reservations. Police officers on the street don't
carry scales that would let them determine whether a person has
enough marijuana for a civil or a criminal penalty, he said. Officers
would also lose the authority to search a suspect who has a
civil-penalty quantity, he said.

White said her preference would be to legalize marijuana. That is the
backdrop of the decriminalization debate: What many supporters really
have their sights set on is legalization.

That's the goal for Daye, a retired doctor from Waterbury.

"I don't think it's harmful," she said. "It's not addictive. You
cannot overdose. Its effect is temporary. It does not cause brain
damage. It's more benign than alcohol."

Again, McQueen said the goal is impractical.

"It's still a violation of federal law," he said. People who buy
marijuana are buying from dealers who are knee-deep in crime, he said.

McQueen is more supportive of the other bill to be considered at
Wednesday's hearing. That one would lower the amount of cocaine or
heroin needed to trigger drug trafficking penalties. McQueen said
crack cocaine is on the rise in Vermont and some dealers keep their
quantities just below the threshold to avoid harsher penalties.

DRUG HEARING

WHAT: Senate Judiciary Committee public hearing on two drug-related
bills being considered -- one to decriminalize marijuana and the
other to toughen penalties for trafficking of heroin and cocaine.

WHEN: 6-8 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Room 11, Statehouse, Montpelier

INFORMATION: To view the proposed legislation on marijuana (S. 238) ,
visit:
www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2008/bills/intro/S-238.HTM.
To view the trafficking legislation (S. 250), visit
www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2008/bills/intro/S-250.HTM