cannabisnews.com: Snuffed Pot Initiative Questioned 





Snuffed Pot Initiative Questioned 
Posted by CN Staff on September 12, 2004 at 12:11:17 PT
By Todd Wright, Democrat Staff Writer 
Source: Tallahassee Democrat 
Blunt is one way to describe the response by Tallahassee officials to a petition to soften marijuana enforcement in the city.Unfortunately for local supporters of the initiative, it may be some time before smoking a blunt - slang for a type of marijuana cigarette - is more acceptable. 
Earlier this month, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Nikki Clark ruled that a proposed city charter amendment to make marijuana a low priority offense was in conflict with state law and could not be placed on the Nov. 2 ballot, despite the petition collecting the required number signatures to be put before voters.Tallahasseans for Practical Law Enforcement, the political action group that started the petition drive, thinks the city is purposely blocking the referendum from getting on the ballot."We are not changing the law," said Michael Tiner, one of the organizers of the campaign. "It simply sends the message to police and the city that marijuana should be the lowest priority. It's still illegal, but the police could be spending their time solving other crimes."The petition called for low-priority enforcement of adult personal use of marijuana - defined as the possession of less than 20 grams of the illegal weed by anyone at least 18 years old. If caught, offenders would get a ticket or a fine.Selling or distributing marijuana would still be strictly enforced.According to Rick Courtemanche, legal adviser for the city's Police Department, offenders caught with less than 20 grams of marijuana are charged with a first-degree misdemeanor and anything above that nets a felony charge.For misdemeanor amounts, officers usually issue notices to appear in court and don't book violators into county jail. Courtemanche said most misdemeanor charges are tacked onto some other arrestable offense.City Attorney Jim English argues that the TPLE's request would change the law.According to a state law adopted in 1973, marijuana is on a list with illegal drugs such as cocaine as top priorities for drug control and enforcement. The law can not be changed or modified on the local level, according to Clark's written judgment. She also ruled that the petition suffered from several technical flaws in the language proposed to go on the ballot.English said the city turned to the courts to see whether the request was legal, not to block the initiative."There were three pretty obvious problems with the petition, but the one most critical is the conflict with existing state law," he said. "There have been moves all around the country for marijuana law reform. This was an interesting attempt to sort of come through the back door, but they still have to change the state law first."TPLE was depending on severable favorable rulings on marijuana reform in other states to propel its efforts to amend the city charter.Since 1973, 12 state legislatures -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon -- have enacted versions of marijuana decriminalization.TPLE's proposed ballot language mirrored the words used in Seattle last year, when voters approved a similar amendment to lower marijuana's priority status. Seattle also established a city panel to monitor enforcement.Dominic Holden, who led the efforts in Seattle and currently sits on the city's marijuana review panel, said his campaign faced similar opposition."I am not surprised the city of Tallahassee is willing to use questionable practices to stop this issue from going to the voters," he said. "It's safe to say that law enforcement uses a wide array of discretion when it comes to marijuana cases. To claim they don't have that discretion is entirely disingenuous."Richard Bradford, who started the local grass roots campaign, said he felt local taxpayer dollars were wasted every time a marijuana case was prosecuted. As the former president of the Florida State University chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, he said he had strong support from many of the students and some faculty members.In three months, the TPLE had collected close to 8,500 signatures of registered city voters in support of its cause, qualifying the petition to get on the ballot.Although many students signed the petition, Bradford said the campaign targeted other areas of the community, which gave him hope that the proposed amendment would pass if it went to a vote."Ultimately, we want to change a marijuana charge from a criminal offense to a fine. It's too hard to do on a state level so we thought this could jump start something," he said.But state legislators have also frowned upon marijuana law reform.The last attempt to change a state marijuana law was in 2002, when the state NORML chapter attempted to make it legal to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. The effort received little legislative support and never made it on the ballot.Allen Turnage, state chairman of NORML, said his organization's main goal is to change penalties for marijuana offenses to those of traffic offenses such as speeding.He admitted that altering the priority level of law enforcement would be a hard sell and could cause problems."As a matter of public policy in an ideal world, this is good idea. It would set things in a priority theme," said Turnage, who was recently defeated for a spot on the City Commission. "As a practical matter, I realize that there are some problems with it. You have to let the police set their own enforcement schemes."Still, Tiner and Bradford don't plan on giving up their fight.The group is contemplating appealing the decision and Bradford said he has been trying to set up meetings with city commissioners to discuss a possible change. He said only one commissioner, Debbie Lightsey, has shown interest in meeting with the group."It's a matter of where do you want your money and law enforcement directed, on real crimes or on people smoking a joint in their own homes?" Tiner said. "We feel very confident the residents of Tallahassee don't think marijuana should be a high priority."Note: Group says city blocking measure -- City denies pot ballot initiativeSource: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)Author: Todd Wright, Democrat Staff WriterPublished: September 12, 2004Copyright: 2004 Tallahassee DemocratContact: letters tallahassee.comWebsite: http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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