Pubdate: Tue, 17 Oct 2006
Source: Missoulian (MT)
Copyright: 2006 Missoulian
Contact:  http://www.missoulian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/720
Author: Tristan Scott, the Missoulian
Note: Only prints letters from within its print circulation area

INITIATIVE 2 WOULD MAKE MARIJUANA LOWEST PRIORITY

A ballot initiative that aims to make marijuana crimes the single 
lowest priority for Missoula County authorities - pegged below even 
jaywalking on the hierarchy of enforcement - has met heavy opposition 
from adversaries who argue the drug would become more available to 
young people.

But proponents of the measure, dubbed Initiative 2, have accrued an 
authoritative advocate who recently showed his support in Missoula.

Norm Stamper's credentials are impressive. A 34-year veteran police 
officer with a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, Stamper served as 
chief of the Seattle Police Department from 1994 until 2000, and made 
international headlines during the WTO-related demonstrations, which 
he says weren't his proudest moments.

But Stamper's new book, "Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the 
Dark Side of American Policing," has painted him in an entirely new 
light - as an apostle for the legalization of drugs.

Stamper is also plenty familiar with the nuts and bolts of Missoula's 
Initiative 2 because Washington voters passed a similar measure 
affecting Seattle's police department several years ago - Initiative 75.

In Missoula, like Seattle, the measure strives to place increased 
emphasis on crimes that threaten people's lives and property and on 
other, more pressing drug issues. A clause in the measure leans on 
local law enforcement to make "citations, arrests, property seizures 
and prosecutions for adult marijuana offenses Missoula County's 
lowest law enforcement priority."

"It puts marijuana crimes on par with a minor traffic offense," Stamper said.

That means county law enforcement officers would be encouraged to 
dispense a finger wagging instead of a citation to someone caught 
with a dimebag of pot.

But the measure would not include marijuana sales or drug use by 
minors as low-priority offenses, and would in no way legalize the 
drug, according to Angela Goodhope, a spokeswoman with Citizens for 
Responsible Crime Policy, the group that proposed the measure and 
landed it on the ballot.

"I am not an advocate of substance abuse. I do believe that anyone 
who furnishes a drug to a child needs to pay a painful price," 
Stamper said. "Anyone who drives under the influence needs to be made 
accountable and we have to make certain that young people are free of 
intoxicating substances."

And while the initiative is a mere suggestion to law enforcement and 
not a law, the proposal does call for a Community Oversight 
Committee. The committee would consist of community members, criminal 
defense attorneys and a drug rehabilitation counselor who would 
investigate marijuana arrests and produce a report on the 
initiative's effects seven months after its passage.

Although Stamper gave the measure his approval during an interview 
last week, local law enforcement officials are balking at Initiative 
2, describing it as another furtive step toward the legalization of marijuana.

"They know that putting a legalization initiative on the ballot would 
probably go down in defeat, so they want to get people used to the 
idea in digestible increments," said Missoula County Sheriff Mike 
McMeekin. "Folks, if you want to legalize marijuana, then put it on 
the ballot in plain terms and change the statutes."

Stamper says he's heard almost every argument challenging his line of 
reasoning.

"I've got cop friends who think I'm crazy," he said. "But I've got a 
lot more cop friends who see eye to eye with me. Many cops truly 
believe that marijuana enforcement is hurting their credibility 
because they realize marijuana is a less harmful drug than regulated 
drugs like alcohol."

Seeing eye to eye with Stamper means agreeing with a philosophy that 
the enforcement of overzealous narcotics laws diverts officers' 
attention from violent crimes that adversely impact communities.

"My first 'ah-ha' was at 22," Stamper said. "One evening as a rookie, 
I arrested a 19-year-old in an affluent part of San Diego. The kid's 
neighbor smelled some pot and called the cops. When I got there, the 
kid was clearly getting stoned, so on the strength of the burning 
marijuana, which is probable cause, I kicked in the door, scooped 
some pot out of his toilet and arrested the guy. It wasn't until we 
were on the way to jail that I realized 'this is a waste of time.' I 
was going to be out of service for several hours and it occurred to 
me that I could be doing real police work. Not to overdramatize, but 
I could possibly be saving a life."

As an officer, Stamper began winching marijuana offenses lower and 
lower on his list of priorities. And even though Stamper was three 
years removed from the Seattle Police Department when the city's 
Initiative 75 passed, he believes his relationship with the community 
improved upon developing his personal philosophy.

"Almost 100 million Americans have tried pot at least once," Stamper 
said. "Throughout my career, I was seen as a trusted and respected 
public safety officer. That's why I signed on - not to alienate young 
people and adults who smoke marijuana."

Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg, however, isn't buying 
into these notions.

Initiative 2 would create a citizen oversight committee to track and 
report to taxpayers how much local government resources are annually 
spent on adult marijuana offenses as compared to other law 
enforcement issues. And although proponents of the initiative promise 
the landscape of county law enforcement won't be dramatically 
impacted, Van Valkenburg expects it will beg a great deal of time 
from both the sheriff's department and the county attorney's office.

"First and foremost is the problem of dealing with this advisory 
committee," Van Valkenburg said. "We'd be providing them with data 
and justification for the arrests and prosecutions of adult 
offenders, which would be extremely onerous. We're going to have less 
time to deal with other crimes because we'll be dealing with these people."

Van Valkenburg also says the philosophy behind Initiative 2 is half-baked.

"I hope Missoula County voters will reject this initiative," Van 
Valkenburg said. "I think it will make the job of law enforcement 
much more difficult, and it's not likely to accomplish the goals 
proponents have of somehow legalizing or decriminalizing the use of 
marijuana to focus on other issues. People shouldn't assume that this 
will not have a serious impact on the way business is done in Missoula County."

Pointing to statistics from the Montana Board of Crime Control, 
Goodhope says Missoula County spends too much time processing 
marijuana offenses.

According to Goodhope, in 2005, Missoula County made an arrest for 28 
percent of the reported rapes, 23 percent of the vehicle thefts and 8 
percent of burglaries. But 57 percent of drug reports led to an 
arrest, and the county initiated a marijuana possession 
arrest-and-conviction process 261 times, on average of every 33 hours.

"You can make statistics tell any story you want," said McMeekin. 
"That stuff is just plain misleading. It's a smokescreen."

Van Valkenburg views the measure as superfluous, given county law 
enforcement's realistic attitude governing misdemeanor drug offenses.

"Right now, possession of misdemeanor amounts of marijuana is an 
extremely low priority, if not already the lowest," he said. "But the 
sale and possession of large amounts of marijuana are central to the 
overall problem with drug abuse, and our law enforcement officers 
need the ability to treat that problem without having to comply with 
an oversight committee. We put a very strong emphasis on violent 
crimes already, but we would have to spend a lot more time dealing 
with the advisory committee, which we just shouldn't have to do."

Know before you vote

Read Initiative 2 in its entirety at: 
www.co.missoula.mt.us/election/Nov2006ElecInfo.htm.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine