Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jan 2009
Source: Kalamazoo Weekly (MI)
Contact: http://www.kalamazooweekly.com/submit.ph
Copyright: 2009 Birch River Group, LLC.
Website: http://www.kalamazooweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4932
Author: J. Anderson
Cited: Michigan NORML http://www.minorml.org/
Cited: Kalamazoo Coalition for Pragmatic Cannabis Laws http://www.kzoocpcl.org/

MAKING GREEN A LOWER PRIORITY

A local group pushes for a low priority city ordinance for those who 
smoke marijuana.

The Michigan Chapter of National Organization for the Reform of 
Marijuana Laws (NORML) sees Kalamazoo as a progressive community in 
which the liberalization of marijuana laws can be fostered.

A petition to make the use of cannabis a low priority for arresting 
authorities is being organized by Louis Stocking of Kalamazoo. 
Stocking has been writing letters to the MINORML and finally has 
their attention. "By low prioritizing it we basically don't allow 
them to focus as much time (on marijuana-related arrests)," stated Stocking.

South West Michigan coordinator for Michigan NORML, Greg Francisco 
states, "We have had our eye on Kalamazoo for quite some time because 
it is a progressive city with a pool of young, energetic activists 
and the threshold to qualify for the ballot is relatively low 
compared to some other cities.  But we are also moving ahead 
organizing in other cities around Michigan at the same time. Similar 
measures may appear on as many as three other Michigan cities within 
the next year. Maybe more as momentum builds and word spreads that 
this is even possible."

It has been a month and a half since Stocking first started writing 
the letters and now he has the support of many of the citizens of 
Kalamazoo. Comments have been made that if a marijuana user is not 
injuring anyone then it's a victimless crime, aside from the user 
whom is being arrested for possession. Stocking responded to this 
comment, "I do agree that my liberties should not be jeopardized." He 
also believes that if legalization is on the books that there should 
be certain guidelines that would need to be set.

On the subject of marijuana being a "gateway drug" Francisco 
disagrees, "Over 150 million Americans have used marijuana in their 
life-time, fewer than 500,000 are addicted to harder drugs.  If 
marijuana is a gateway, where are all the addicts? Teens in the U.S. 
almost universally follow the same progression: tobacco, alcohol, 
cannabis, so if cannabis was a gateway drug, it would still be the 
3rd along the path.

States that harshly punish marijuana offenses have higher rates of 
hard drug addiction.  States that have decriminalized simple 
possession have markedly lower rates of hard drug addiction.  This 
suggests that marijuana is not a gateway but rather a terminus."

Rev. Steven B. Thompson, Executive Director of Michigan NORML, 
believes that cannabis is not a drug to begin with, "It's a seed 
bearing herb, not a gateway drug."

Steve Lehman, addiction service supervisor at Woodlands Behavioral 
Healthcare Network, believes that Michigan voters made a big mistake 
in approving medical marijuana on November 4th.

He states that the positive benefits are outweighed by the negative 
effects of making that drug available to people who don't have a 
legitimate need for it. In response to Lehman's statements, Stocking 
said, "I don't think that the law is going to be handing it over to 
people who have headaches, but to those who have actually 
debilitating diseases."

Medical marijuana is now starting to become mainstream; according to 
Francisco, Proposal 1 passes by a margin of nearly 2 to 1. "MI NORML 
supports a policy of treating responsible adult use of marijuana the 
same way we currently treat responsible adult use of alcohol & tobacco.

Legal but heavily regulated, taxed and sold by legitimate businesses 
who employ clerks who check ID's.  All the criminal drug dealer asks 
to see from kids, is the cash," states Fransisco.

There is no petition right now, but one should start to circulate 
around Kalamazoo in April. Stocking said that the petition will have 
to be turned in mid-August. He also thinks that the petition will get 
the people out even more to vote.

Francisco thinks the fiscal responsibility and wise use of limited 
public resources is something everyone wants, regardless of political stripe.

This measure is about how to allocate limited resources to attain the 
maximum value. "We expect the most vigorous opposition to come from 
those who benefit the most financially from the status quo and 
organizations who risk loosing funding currently derived through 
aggressive use of civil forfeiture."

"A Lowest Law Enforcement Priority measure will direct the KPS & the 
City Attorney to make the arrest & prosecution of small amounts of 
marijuana with no other aggravating circumstances their lowest 
priority," said Francisco, "What this will do is free up scarce 
resources so that they can be devoted to addressing more serious crimes." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake