Pubdate: Wed, 17 Oct 2007
Source: Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY)
Copyright: 2007 Daily Freeman
Contact:  http://www.dailyfreeman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3269
Author: Hugh Reynolds, Political Editor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

DA CANDIDATE SENNETT TAKES HEAT OVER MARIJUANA STANCE

KINGSTON - Does Jonathan Sennett, the Democratic  candidate for 
Ulster County district attorney, support  the legalization of 
marijuana? It's not quite clear,  but his two opponents don't.

Sennett, an assistant Ulster County public defender,  said during a 
Freeman interview that he favors "the  further decriminalization" of 
the drug, but he fell  short of advocating its "legalization" as he 
apparently  had on at least two other occasions.

His opponents, Republican Holley Carnright of  Saugerties and 
Conservative/Independent Vincent Bradley  Jr. of Kingston, say they 
heard Sennett, a New Paltz  attorney, call for legalization twice - 
in September on  a Woodstock public-access TV interview, and again on 
Oct. 3 at a joint appearance before the Ulster County  Police Chiefs 
Association at the Ulster County Law  Enforcement Center. Bradley was 
not present at the  Woodstock interview with Carnright and Sennett.

"Did he use the word 'legalization' (before the Police  Chiefs 
Association)? Absolutely," said town of Ulster  Police Chief Paul 
Watzka, who, using the Woodstock TV  interview as context, posed the 
question to Sennett at  the police chiefs' "meet the candidates" session.

Watzka said he did not query Carnright or Bradley on  the subject 
"because I knew how they stood." Bradley  and Carnright were quick to 
inform the police chiefs  they did not favor legalization of the drug.

Possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal  use is now a 
violation, which Bradley called "the  lowest form of crime," and 
subject to no more than a  $100 fine.

"I don't understand what (Sennett) means by  'decriminalization.' You 
can't get less than a  violation. It's equivalent to an appearance 
ticket for  jaywalking," said Bradley, a former Manhattan assistant 
district attorney.

"He can dance all around it and blow smoke, but I think  his message 
is clear, intended or not, that he doesn't  think marijuana is any 
worse than tobacco. It is  totally inappropriate for a DA to say 
that," said  Carnright, a former chief assistant district attorney 
for Ulster County. "I think it's a bad idea. You can't  be the DA and 
send out that kind of message. The  message, especially to kids, is 
(marijuana) is bad for  you. Any other message is inappropriate."

Sennett, in a Freeman interview, compared the health  risks of 
tobacco and alcohol abuse to those connected  with marijuana. "The 
scientific evidence is pretty  solid that marijuana is not more 
harmful than alcohol  or tobacco," he said.

Sennett, a former assistant district attorney in the  Bronx, also 
observed that the alcohol and tobacco  industries have extensive 
lobbies in Washington and  Albany to protect their interests while 
marijuana does  not.

"I don't believe that a substance should be determined  to be legal 
or illegal in inverse proportion to its  lobbying effort. We don't 
prosecute people as felons  for selling alcohol to kids," Sennett said.

Sennett said it is up to the state Legislature to amend  laws 
regarding marijuana and that he would enforce  whatever laws are on the books.

Watzka questioned that statement. "How could a district  attorney who 
supports legalization of marijuana  prosecute a case involving 
marijuana?" he said.

Kingston Mayor James Sottile, a Bradley supporter,  called the 
legalization of marijuana "a bad idea."

"Here we have a candidate who says we have lost the war  on drugs and 
gangs (which Sennett denies), and who  wants to make marijuana 
legal," he said. "We're trying  to take drug dealers off the street. 
Making it legal  would only makes things worse."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman