cannabisnews.com: Prop. 1 Failure Effects Reach Beyond Columbia





Prop. 1 Failure Effects Reach Beyond Columbia
Posted by CN Staff on April 15, 2003 at 08:53:16 PT
By Brenden Clawson, News Editor
Source: Maneater
The defeat of Proposition 1 in the April 8 municipal election is likely to affect the drug law reform movement as a whole, both supporters and opponents of the measure said. The election was a setback for those who want to reform the nation’s marijuana laws, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. 
“Those in control of drug policy have said this is a war,” St. Pierre said. “It’s pretty clear that in a war, when we lose a battle, it can’t be measured as a good thing.” The failure of Proposition 1 could come back to haunt his cause, St. Pierre said. “Opponents of drug law reform often cite these losses as evidence showing that the public does not support reforming drug laws,” he said. “Also, its hard to get funding for efforts that don’t succeed.” But despite its failure, Proposition 1 helped show proponents what works and what doesn’t work in campaigning for such measures, Missouri NORML coordinator Dan Viets said. “We could have probably written the proposal in a different way,” Viets said. “As it was, there wasn’t much opportunity for give and take. Viets and several other Columbia residents who actively campaigned for the proposition which would have reduced the penalty for marajuana in Columbia will speak at the annual NORML conference in San Francisco this weekend about lessons that can be learned from the proposition’s failure. Viets said one positive development that came because of Proposition 1 was the Columbia Police Department’s decision to send all first offenses involving 35 grams of marijuana or less to municipal court. “We didn’t get everything we wanted, but we got a big chunk through the police chief changing his policy,” Viets said. Columbia Police Chief Randy Boehm has said the proposed ordinance led the police department to reexamine the way it treats marijuana offenses. Proposition 1’s failure was partly a result of spotty voting behavior of college students, St. Pierre said. “Students are notorious for not registering to vote,” he said. “When you are going to run initiatives in large university towns, even while you may poll really well, it is very hard to count on student voters.” But Peggy Quigg, executive director of ACT Missouri, an organization that campaigned against the proposition, said the bill’s failure was mostly because of voters’ awareness of the dangers of marijuana. “There is a lot of confusion out about this issue,” Quigg said. “I think that when people get more informed about marijuana, they can make an informed decision. That’s what caused the failure of this proposition.” Quigg said ACT would continue to fight against any efforts to loosen marijuana laws in Missouri. Source: Maneater, The (Columbia, MO Edu)Author: Brenden Clawson, News EditorPublished: April 15, 2003Copyright: 2003 The ManeaterContact: forum themaneater.comWebsite: http://www.themaneater.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Missouri NORMLhttp://www.gstlnorml.org/Pot Proposition Fails http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15914.shtmlColumbia Voters Reject Marijuana Propositionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15910.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Post Comment