SMALL MARIJUANA CASES SHOULDN'T BE PROSECUTORS' PRIORITY

It takes discipline to balance a family budget on a middle-class income.

Costly temptations - from high-definition TVs to the weekly "sale of
the year" - make it more important than ever to know where to draw
the line. The proliferation of quickie-loan businesses is proof of
the number of people who find themselves caught short at bill-paying time.

It's the same with government. We want the best public services, a
seemingly endless list including roads, jails, courts, schools,
police and fire protection. But in the end, taxpayers collectively
are no different from the young couple paying bills at the end of the month.

That's why it was refreshingly honest to hear Dane County District
Attorney Brian Blanchard point out recently that his office has
stopped filing criminal charges against those found with small
amounts of marijuana. Such people still face fines of up to several
hundred dollars, but Blanchard said his office doesn't have the
manpower or budget to deal with the volume of such cases as criminal
court matters.

Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White echoed Blanchard's
philosophy. It's not a personal judgment by either prosecutor about
their approval of people smoking marijuana. Rather, it's a question
of priorities.

"Prosecutors ... are increasingly swamped with criminal cases, and we
have to make decisions like that," White said.

There are 29 lawyers in Blanchard's office, the same number as in
1988. Meanwhile, Dane County's population has boomed during that
period. That means something has to give, and his decision to devote
less time to marijuana possession cases is pretty much a no-brainer.

"I don't think we have a marijuana problem in Dane County," Blanchard
said. "I think we have a heroin problem. I think we have a crack
problem. I think we have a much larger alcohol problem than we have a
marijuana problem."

Statistics in most counties support Blanchard's argument. Unless we
want to pay even higher taxes to build more jails and courtrooms, and
hire more police, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, clerks,
bailiffs, and jailers, then we have to be realistic in what we can
expect "the system" to manage.

Eau Claire County Judge Eric Wahl acknowledged marijuana possession
cases pale in comparison to other criminal matters he has to deal
with, but he also pointed out it may not be wise to send a signal to
pot smokers that their activity is not considered a problem or is
somehow condoned.

Marijuana long has been called a "gateway drug" to more serious
addictions. It's also no secret those involved in selling large
amounts of marijuana often aren't exactly model citizens. So it is in
society's best interest not to adopt a "who cares" attitude toward
marijuana use, which, like alcohol, sometimes is a component in more
serious crimes that occur when people's brains get addled.

But the degree to which we want to wage the "war on drugs" is
dependent on how much we want to spend. And maybe after decades of
trying to eliminate marijuana use, it's time to acknowledge there are
other priorities for our resources, particularly punishing those who
inflict bodily harm on others.