PRO-MARIJUANA DRIVE GATHERS 2,600 NAMES

Petition seeks leniency for small amounts.

University of Missouri-Columbia students seeking to decriminalize small
amounts of marijuana through an initiative petition effort have turned in
more than 2,600 signatures, more than double the amount needed to place the
measure on the April ballot.

The students, who call themselves the Columbia Alliance for Patients and
Education, have been collecting signatures for the past six months. Their
petition urges the Columbia City Council to pass an ordinance that would
direct all people charged with possessing 35 grams of marijuana or less to
municipal court.

The petition also calls for limiting punishment for possession to small
fines and asks city prosecutors to dismiss charges against people who use
marijuana for medicinal purposes under the direction of a doctor.

Anthony Johnson, an MU law student and president of the MU chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union, said volunteers checked the signatures
against the Boone County clerk's Web site of registered voters and estimated
they have around 1,700 valid signatures.

They need 1,191 to get the measure on the April ballot.

Boone County Clerk Wendy Noren said her office would have the signatures
scrutinized by the end of the month so the Columbia City Council has time to
consider the measure and, if it does not adopt it, set it for the April
ballot.

Johnson said the measure would allow police to focus on more pressing
matters, such as violent crime.

"This would increase the time and resources law enforcement will be able to
give to more serious crimes," Johnson said. "That would save them a lot of
time."

Police Chief Randy Boehm said the city is operating under a 1999 agreement
between city administrators and law enforcement officials that called for
sending people arrested with small amounts of pot - about 5 grams or less -
to city court.

"I think the agreement we have now is working well," the police chief said.
"In my opinion, minor offenses are currently being dealt with by issuing a
summons and sending to municipal court. Certainly anything 5 grams or less .
virtually all of those are going to city court."

Since 1985, a city ordinance has given police the option of writing a
summons for possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana. Boehm said he
would not support any measure that would take away discretion from police
officers or prosecutors.

Boehm said he thinks minor possession cases are already being sent to
municipal court.

"My definition of what is serious and what is minor might be different from
theirs," he said. "But I don't think the system is broken."

Sarah Duff, Johnson's girlfriend and chief petitioner, said part of the
impetus for the petition came from an amendment to the Higher Education Act,
which bars federal financial aid to anyone convicted in state or federal
court of selling or possessing drugs.

She said people caught with less than 35 grams of marijuana should not face
the possibility of being sent to state court. Sending misdemeanor possession
cases to municipal court would allow offenders to avoid the federal aid
prohibition.

"We hope that the Columbia City Council will recognize that this proposal
makes sense from virtually every perspective," Duff said in a prepared
statement. "It will bring about more consistent application of the laws
against marijuana possession while allowing those who are or hope to become
students the opportunity to continue their education.

"We're just going to deal with the people who violate the law in a more
effective manner," Duff said. "Jail doesn't work. It's just about time that
we come to grips with this."