COUNCIL WILL HEAR MARIJUANA PROPOSAL

The Plan Would Soften the Penalty for Having Small Quantities of Pot.

The Columbia City Council on Monday will hear a proposal that aims to
retool the city's law-enforcement stance toward small amounts of
marijuana. The proposal would make the possession of less than 35
grams of marijuana a ticketable offense only, not punishable by
imprisonment. Such cases would only be referred to the municipal
prosecuting attorney and would not be prosecuted by a state prosecutor.

The proposed ordinance would also ensure that patients for whom
marijuana has been recommended by a physician suffer no punishment for
obtaining, possessing or using marijuana or marijuana
paraphernalia.

The ordinance would be voted on at the council's Jan. 20 meeting,
Columbia attorney Dan Viets said. If a simple majority doesn't approve
the proposal, the council will pass a second ordinance that would
place the proposal on the April 8 ballot.

"The council can either pass the ordinance or submit it to the
voters," said City Manager Raymond Beck.

Anthony Johnson, a 25-year-old law student at MU and president of the
Mizzou American Civil Liberties Union, wrote the petition with Viets.
Johnson said he was inspired by a similar city-council initiative in
Ann Arbor, Mich.

"The main reason why this ordinance is important is that students
cannot get federal loans, grants or work-study money if they are
convicted in state court," Viets said.

"We oppose the current marijuana policy that is anti-education,
anti-patient's rights and a failed policy that disproportionately
harms students, the seriously ill, minorities and the poor," Johnson
added.

Sarah Duff, who recently graduated from MU with a bachelor's degree in
political science, actively supported Johnson's initiative by spending
25 hours a week during the last six months asking people to sign the
petition. The group needed 1,191 valid signatures and collected more
than 2,500 signatures, Duff said. The city clerk's office said Tuesday
that the petition contained 1,285 valid signatures.

"In the last months, I have dedicated my life to it," she said. "The
police should focus on more pressing issues that really do hurt society."

Columbia Police Chief Randy Boehm is not convinced by those
arguments.

"I am opposed to any type of legislation that would not allow officers
to have discretion," he said. "I'm just not comfortable with that
message. I certainly feel that marijuana can be a dangerous drug."

Boehm also said in all cases that involve a first-offense possession
charge of a small amount of marijuana but don't involve other charges,
officers send the suspect to municipal court, where student loans
won't be affected.