Pubdate: Thu, 03 Apr 2003 Source: Columbia Missourian (MO) Copyright: 2003 Columbia Missourian Contact: http://www.digmo.org/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2282 Author: Quinn O'Brien and Sana Syed POT INITIATIVE DRAWS FEDERAL ATTENTION Proposition 1, the proposed marijuana initiative that will appear on Tuesday's ballot, has attracted the attention of the White House and brought controversial ads to the papers. With the election drawing near and a poll showing that undecided voters could be pivotal, organizations on both sides of the issue are stepping up their campaign efforts. Scott Burns, director of state and local affairs for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, will speak at a luncheon today at the Peachtree Center. A news release from President Bush's office said federal officials will meet with Columbia leaders to discuss the "dangers of marijuana." Burns was invited to Columbia by Peggy Quigg, executive director of the Jefferson City-based ACT Missouri, which has been campaigning against the measure. Quigg said she hopes this event will give voters the opportunity to hear someone from the federal government speak about marijuana. She said she expects Burns to address what she said are conflicts that the proposed ordinance would raise with federal and state laws. Supporters Speak Out Proponents of Proposition 1 are angry about the attention from the White House and the goals of the speakers at the luncheon. "This is really a blatant move by Washington insiders to meddle in a local election that only affects Columbians," said Anthony Johnson, president of the Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education, who helped write the proposed ordinance. Questions of the legality of Burns' visit were raised by local lawyer Dan Viets, a proponent of Proposition 1. He said election law clearly prohibits public officials from campaigning for or against an issue using public money. He filed a complaint Wednesday with the Missouri Ethics Commission. Kevin Sabet, senior speech writer with the drug policy office in Washington, D.C., said that Burns was not coming to campaign. "This is certainly appropriate," Sabet said. "We're responding to an invitation from the local community. If you think about it, this is what we do, drug prevention." While the federal government is footing the bill for Burns' trip, ACT Missouri will sponsor the luncheon, which is free to those who registered in advance. Quigg said that ACT Missouri receives about $400,000 a year in public funds, but that the luncheon will be financed from $80,000 worth of private donations made to the organization. "I'm not using public finds to campaign against Proposition 1," Quigg said, adding that the proposal "gives people false hopes and sets them up for getting into a higher degree of trouble. Voters need to be informed on all sides, and that includes the federal level." Groups Place Ads As the campaign heats up, charges are being made on both sides about the accuracy of campaign ads. Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, a group supporting the proposition, placed an ad in Tuesday's issue of The Maneater urging people to vote yes. The ad says that "students only lose their financial aid for drug convictions under state and federal law." The student group placed the ad in response to a local newspaper ad that ACT ran on Sunday. The ACT ad said that students convicted of a drug offense are not eligible for government aid and that "it does not matter where the conviction is made, city court, state court or federal court." Financial Aid Details Disputed Financial aid has been one of the leading issues in the Proposition 1 debate. The proposed ordinance would send offenders found in possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana to municipal court. Proponents insist that convictions in municipal court, rather than state or federal court, would not jeopardize federal financial aid for students. "Proponents make it seem like this is cut and dried," Quigg said, adding that she thinks students would lose their loan money even if convicted in municipal court. The word "conviction" on the aid application, she said, is open to interpretation. Students convicted in municipal court, she said, could still answer "yes" to a question about drug convictions and lose their federal money. "This is a lie," Viets said. "The wording of the act of Congress makes this issue perfectly clear: Conviction under state and federal law will result in the loss of federal financial aid." The official language of a U.S. Department of Education Web site regarding financial aid reads, "Has the student ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs? A federal law suspends federal student aid eligibility for students convicted under federal or state law of possession of drugs (not including alcohol and tobacco). ... Count only federal or state convictions." "At best, the out-of-town opponents of Proposition 1 are just wrong," Johnson said. "At worst, they are lying to the citizens of Columbia." During a three-year period that ended in 2002, 38 MU students were denied financial aid because of drug convictions, university officials have reported. Group Surveys More Than 500 Likely Voters On another front, Johnson said he was "encouraged and excited" about the results of a voter survey financed by his group. The survey of 523 likely voters was conducted from March 18 to March 20 by the Center for Advanced Social Research at MU. It found 44.7 percent in favor, 39.8 percent opposed and 15.4 percent undecided. The poll has a 5 percent margin of error. Johnson said CAPE will be mailing postcards, going door-to-door and phoning voters in the final days. The group reported raising $8,179 as of March 27, and had spent $2,481. This amount does not include the $2,800 cost of the poll. CAPE recently received $10,000 from the Marijuana Policy Project, a national marijuana advocacy group. The money will be used to cover the cost of the poll and phone bank, said Amy Fritz, CAPE's deputy treasurer. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth