cannabisnews.com: Columbia Changes How Marijuana Cases are Handled Columbia Changes How Marijuana Cases are Handled Posted by CN Staff on November 09, 2004 at 16:19:36 PT By Scott Charton, Associated Press Source: Associated Press Columbia, MO. -- Sifting through results from this college town's passage of two proposals easing up on marijuana prosecutions, attorney Dan Viets sees something notable: The overwhelming approval means voters across the political spectrum supported the changes.That's encouraging to Viets, a longtime state legislative lobbyist for decriminalizing marijuana and allowing its medical use statewide. Republicans will control the Legislature and the governor's office starting in January, "and this vote indicates to me that a bipartisan voting population, as it matures, is recognizing that marijuana use is not really something that ought to be treated like a crime," Viets said Tuesday.Outnumbered critics of the two proposals approved Nov. 2 dismiss Viets' suggestion support for decriminalizing marijuana has grown beyond Columbia.They say proponents wrapped their local campaign in misleading information, helped by about $50,000 from a national group supporting marijuana decriminalization. Foes say they lacked organization and money.That's in contrast to a city election in April 2003, when a single pot proposition - merging sentencing changes and allowing medical marijuana - flopped at the polls, partly because a Bush administration drug official traveled to Columbia to speak against it.New petitions were circulated after that defeat to put the now-divided proposals onto a general election ballot, when larger turnout would presumably help, and it did."This time, they struck popular chords by conjuring up this idea that a first-time offender will lose a federal student loan if they're convicted in state court, and that just wasn't happening here. And as for the medical marijuana portion, they left out the part that people would still have to buy it off the street, even with a doctor's note," Boone County Prosecutor Kevin Crane said in an interview Tuesday.Crane and Columbia Police Chief Randy Boehm made statements against both proposals, but they were drowned out.Proposition 1, the medical marijuana proposal, got more than 69 percent of the vote. It allows seriously ill patients, with permission from their physician, to use marijuana inside the city limits. No other Missouri community has anything similar on the books, and marijuana possession remains a state crime - if a charge is filed in state court.Proposition 2, which was approved with almost 62 percent of the vote, stipulates that marijuana arrests shall be the lowest priority of city law enforcement. And it mandates that arrests for possession of 35 grams or less of pot - about 1 1/4 ounces - shall be handled in municipal court, a less serious venue than state court.The maximum penalty: a $250 fine, with no jail. Charges could be dropped after a year if the defendant has no similar run-ins with the law.In state court, the same charge packs a $1,000 fine and a year in jail.Viets said that was a key to winning votes in the home of the University of Missouri-Columbia: pointing out that state court convictions for marijuana possession can cost even a first offender their federal student loans."It just doesn't benefit anybody to force someone to drop out of school," Viets said.Viets could not provide a specific number of Columbia cases in which students found guilty of marijuana possession in state court lost federal student aid. The National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws reports some 150,000 such cases during the last five years.Crane, the state prosecutor, thinks the effect on student loans was overstated. He says his office already sent first-offense possession charges involving small amounts of marijuana to municipal court."It was the usual practice anyway," Crane said. "Now, the Columbia police have had some discretion taken away by the voters."Crane said that could work against justice if, for example, a domestic abuser could also be charged in state court with a marijuana possession count. Even if the domestic assault victim declined to testify, prosecutors might still be able to lock up an offender on a drug charge, he said. People convicted in municipal court aren't subject to jail time, Viets noted."This takes away some routes to deal with bad guys," Crane said. Complete Title: After Vote, Columbia Changes How Marijuana Cases are HandledSource: Associated Press (Wire)Author: Scott Charton, Associated PressPublished: November 09, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site:Missouri NORMLhttp://www.gstlnorml.org/Marijuana Measures Pass Handily http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19765.shtmlBoth Pot Propositions Pass by a Large Marginhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19763.shtmlPrescription Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19704.shtmlPot Advocates Hope Third Try Proves Charm http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19696.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by OverwhelmSam on November 10, 2004 at 05:57:31 PT "Foes say they lacked organization and money." And the will. When will the dictatorial "officials" that we place in office begin to realize that the population just doesn't care about arresting people for marijuana use?I mean, the light bulb should pop on any day now. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by mayan on November 09, 2004 at 18:22:14 PT The Usual Practice Crane, the state prosecutor, thinks the effect on student loans was overstated. He says his office already sent first-offense possession charges involving small amounts of marijuana to municipal court."It was the usual practice anyway," Crane said. "Now, the Columbia police have had some discretion taken away by the voters."If it was "the usual practice anyway" then why are you crying about the voter's decision? Medical cannabis crosses all racial,cultural,religious and political spectrums. It will ultimately expose the corrupted government as being unresponsive to the health and well-being of the American people. We will not stand for it!!!The way out is the way in...New York Times Reports on 911Truth.org: http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20041108135825946RE-OPEN 9/11: http://reopen911.org/The 9/11 WTC Collapses - An Audio-Video Analysis: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/9-11_wtc_videos.htmlPROPOSITION 9/11: http://proposition911.org/Toward a New Criminal Investigation into the Events of 9/11/01: http://www.justicefor911.org/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by JustGetnBy on November 09, 2004 at 17:38:31 PT Wikipedia Dude... That is AWWWSoome! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 09, 2004 at 16:48:10 PT John Tyler Thank you for the link. I'm always amazed at the sites that are out there. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by JOhn Tyler on November 09, 2004 at 16:30:00 PT Off topic with Wikipedia I'm sorry. This is way off topic but I had to bring it up. Lately I have didcovered this web site en.wikipedia.org. It is like the peoples encyclopedia. You get to contribute to the articles through a discussion and through a feature that seems to let you edit the article. Take a moment and Web surf over and check it out. Lets make sure the truth is told. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis [ Post Comment ] Post Comment