POT POSSESSION CARRIES SERIOUS CRIMINAL PENALTY

EDITOR: I read, with great concern, the Wausau Daily Herald's Dec. 13
edition in which you indicate that the Marathon County Board decriminalized
minor marijuana possession for first-time offenders. I believe that you do
a great disservice to your readers by giving them any reason to believe
that possession of marijuana in Marathon County is not a crime.

While the county board can establish ordinances prohibiting matters that
also are criminally prohibited, it cannot supersede state and federal laws
making possession of marijuana a crime.

Conviction for marijuana possession will result in a person becoming
ineligible for federally funded aid for college, and a second conviction is
a felony that can result in life-long repercussions including losing the
right to bear arms. While it may be appropriate for a district attorney to
choose not to prosecute a particular crime based upon the circumstances of
the case, in my opinion it would not be appropriate to make a blanket
decision not to enforce laws against an entire class of people, namely
those who possess small amounts of marijuana. A district attorney is no
substitute for a legislator and should not choose to categorically
disregard a portion of the criminal code with which he or she disagrees.

Any decriminalization of marijuana possession would have to come at the
federal and state levels. It cannot originate at the local level through a
county board or district attorney's office. As long as the possession of
marijuana remains a crime with serious potential implications, your
newspaper has a duty to its readers to clearly inform them of the criminal
status of the offense in Marathon County and elsewhere in Wisconsin. You
should certainly not publish an article that in any way could lead your
readers to believe that possession of small amounts of marijuana has been
decriminalized in Marathon County.

Kurt B. Zengler, Lincoln County assistant district attorney

Editor's note: The Marathon County Board passed an ordinance in March
allowing those caught with 25 grams or less of marijuana to be penalized
with a fine, not a criminal charge. Prosecutors have not charged anyone
under the ordinance.