Issue Might Prove Excellent Starting Point in Consideration Of Criminal Code Overhaul

In the years that this newspaper has known and endorsed Tom Knollman in his role as a Republican...- 11:08 pm

To the contrary, this Union County farmer, while struggling with his speech and movement as a consequence of battling multiple sclerosis, is soft-spoken, thoughtful and deliberate in his positions and subsequent votes in the General Assembly.

His conservative, law-and-order credentials are above reproach.

So when Knollman testified in favor of keeping marijuana available for people like himself, suffering lifetime disorders, his remarks deserve an audience.

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The General Assembly's attempt at comprehensive sentencing reform crashed and burned in the last session. So prospects for any effort to reduce criminal penalties look like a long shot. But a targeted attempt at addressing marijuana laws could fare better, provided the bill receives a good public discussion before the full legislature considers it.

Financially, Indiana needs marijuana sentencing reform. The legislature's Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee heard last week that reducing or eliminating penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana could save up to $200 million a year in law enforcement and corrections costs.

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In the Meantime, Though, Always Enforce the Laws We Have.

Most of the people who appeared before Indiana's Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee last week spoke in favor of legalizing marijuana in the state, or at least greatly reducing the criminal penalties on the possession of small amounts. In support of that position, they said many things that are undoubtedly true, including:

- -Marijuana prohibition in the United States has failed.

- -Indiana's too-draconian laws governing possession have probably done more harm than good. Lives have been ruined over something that is safer than drinking.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Lawmakers didn't say whether they will proceed with legislation to legalize marijuana after advocates for such law dominated a four-hour Statehouse hearing last week.

Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, who proposed a study of the issue this year, told the Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Committee that she had no agenda other than to "start talking about this."

She said the idea for the study came from her "experience sitting in court as an attorney" and "looking at young kids pleading to minor possession charges."

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Indiana, though thoroughly conservative, might see changes in its marijuana policy if Thursday's presentation on decriminalizing and legalizing medical marijuana had any effect on legislatures.

On Thursday, the legislature's Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study committee heard numerous testimonies from policy and medical experts as to the benefits of marijuana and the negatives of complete prohibition. The hearing was streamed live on the Indiana government website for public viewing and The Exponent watched.

Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, prompted the committee hearing, and began with a short presentation on her concerns with Indiana's "draconian" marijuana laws. Her concerns ranged from the industrial use of hemp to the legalization of medicinal marijuana. She questioned the impact of legal repercussions that come with prohibiting marijuana.

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When a first-time offender is caught in West Lafayette with a small amount of marijuana, he is given a citation and a court date. Though technically arrested, rarely is the person booked into the Tippecanoe County Jail, police Chief Jason Dombkowski said.

Last year, in Tippecanoe County courts, marijuana accounted for only 4 percent of higher-felony drug cases -- 8 out of 156, Prosecutor Pat Harrington noted.

"There's this urban street myth that people in the Department of Correction, the only thing they've done is smoked a joint," Harrington said. "It's more fiction than reality.

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Business leaders asking government to stop interfering in their work is a common occurrence at the Statehouse, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly usually is eager to remove obstacles impeding entrepreneurship.

But when that business is marijuana, the lawmakers who normally would do just about anything to help -- and claim credit for new jobs and tax revenue -- disappear.

That's why state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, is eager for Thursday's meeting of the legislature's Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee because the state's marijuana laws finally will get a thorough review.

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INDIANAPOLIS - When State Sen. Karen Tallian first floated the idea of introducing a bill to look at legalizing marijuana, her Statehouse colleagues warned the Portage Democrat that it could kill her chances for re-election.

But the 60-year-old mother of three thought there might be some public support for taking the crime out of pot, so she sent out an informal survey, via email, to constituents in her Northwest Indiana district.

Within 72 hours of sending the email, she got back more than 2,000 responses. Almost all of them were supportive, and most of the supportive ones said the state should treat marijuana like alcohol: Control its sale and tax it as a revenue-enhancer.

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Summer study committees of the Indiana General Assembly are tackling two important issues. They're even related, so perhaps suggestions will be merged later on and discussed by one group. The issues:

♦Prison sentencing reform. A bill calling for major reforms that would save millions and reduce prison crowding by making greater use of alternative sentencing was drafted based on some think-tank recommendations. The proposal crashed and burned last term, though, over objections by county prosecutors that it was soft on crime.

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After gaining support from Gov. Mitch Daniels in December, 2010, an important sentencing reform effort was derailed in March when Indiana's county prosecutors accused supporters of being soft on crime.

SB 561, which passed the senate 46-3 but died in a house committee, would have sought to fix an Indiana sentencing and corrections system that has spiraled out of control.

The push for reform came after a report commissioned last year by the Pew Center on the States and the Council of State Governments Justice Center found Indiana's prison population increased by 47 percent between 2000 and 2010, and its spending increased by 37 percent from $495 million to $679 million.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- When state Sen. Karen Tallian first floated the idea of introducing a bill to look at legalizing marijuana, her Statehouse colleagues warned the Portage Democrat that it could kill her chances for re-election.

But the 60-year-old mother of three thought there might be some public support for taking the crime out of pot, so she sent out an informal survey, via email, to constituents in her northwest Indiana district. Within 72 hours of sending the email, she received more than 2,000 responses. Almost all of them were supportive, and most of the supportive ones said the state should treat marijuana like alcohol: Control its sale and tax it as a revenue enhancer.

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DOWAGIAC - Dowagiac officials are one step closer to amending the zoning ordinance to regulate the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

During a Dowagiac City Council meeting Monday night, Mayor Don Lyons recognized the controversy surrounding the issue.

"I cannot remember an issue that we've had as much debate as this one," he said.

The City Council approved the first readings of the proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance. Dowagiac City Manager Kevin Anderson said he expects passage at the next City Council meeting on July 25.

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Years of trying to add Porter County to the Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area finally succeeded in getting federal approval for the newly expanded effort.

The federal government on Monday included Porter County among eight areas around the nation added to the HIDTA program. That allows federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in both counties to work together to fight drug trafficking and its consequences.

It's a logical move.

The same attributes that make Northwest Indiana a great place for the transportation, distribution and logistics industry make it an important part of the illegal drug trade between Mexico and the Chicago area as well as Detroit and beyond.

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Gatewood Galbraith is once again running for governor -- and he's quit smoking marijuana to prove he's serious.

"I gave up smoking pot about two months ago after 40 years," he said Monday during an interview with The Gleaner. "I want people to trust that I'm going to be as clearheaded as I can possibly be."

This is the fifth time the Lexington defense attorney has run for governor; the first time he made headlines with his outspoken advocacy for legalizing marijuana. He's not pushing that issue as hard as he once did, but it's still in his platform.

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Once again, we have been duped by the dealers -- the dealers of drugs, that is.

And of course in their wake will follow all the special interests, including the users who wish no interference in their quest to do whatever drugs they desire without the law breathing down their necks.

There are the thinkers, who have never experienced personally the impact that drugs have on our young, yet try to make the status of drug usage of an intellectual exercise much in the same manner in which they debate the existence of God.

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But Effect on Cases Is Still Unknown

Questions about the validity of some drug and alcohol test results by the Indiana State Department of Toxicology have yet to affect Southwestern Indiana overtly.

An audit of the lab's results from 2007 through 2009 has turned up problems with at least 200 of the marijuana test results in that time period, said Larry McIntyre, a spokesman for the department.

The errors deal with issues such as handling of samples, lab processes and, in some cases, interpretation. He said the potential seriousness of the situation is not yet known.

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Indiana's state legislature is currently debating Senate Bill 192 and reviewing the state's marijuana laws, specifically on criminal law and procedure.

Senate Bill 192 focuses primarily on marijuana's effect on Indiana's criminal justice system, whether marijuana should remain illegal in Indiana, the implementation of medical marijuana and if marijuana does become legal, how sales and taxation will be handled.

The Senate Committee on Corrections, Criminal and Civil Matters administered the study regarding the concerns conferred in the bill.

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New Albany Police on Tuesday cited seven stores that they say sold synthetic marijuana to undercover officers in violation of a new city ordinance prohiting the sale of such products.

Police Chief Todd Bailey said the stores were each fined $50 as called for in the ordinance passed last November.

Products displayed by officers in a news conference included Kimchi Blueberry Spice, Candyman Blends, Fuego Spice, Nirvana Spice and Buddha's Blend Spice ranging in price from $9.99 to $16.04 per package, typically 1.5 grams.

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Flawed Results From State Toxicology Lab Give Defense Lawyers New Ammunition

In what was otherwise a routine drunken-driving trial, defense attorneys in Hamilton County this week attempted a strategy that legal experts predict might become increasingly popular -- and successful -- in Indiana courtrooms.

They tried to put the state's Department of Toxicology on trial.

The legal maneuver comes on the heels of last week's report in The Indianapolis Star that revealed the depth of testing problems at the lab: An ongoing audit found lab errors in 10 percent of 2,000 positive blood tests for marijuana.

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An auditor hired by the state Department of Toxicology is reviewing all of the department's drug test results from 2007-09 -- including those used for criminal convictions -- because of concerns about accuracy.

The tests cover thousands of cases. Most Indiana law enforcement agencies, including the Indiana State Police, use the lab for blood testing. Marion County, which has its own lab, does not.

Former Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman, hired in August to fix problems at the troubled agency, stressed that he doesn't know yet whether any results are inaccurate. But he said the situation was such that "a person who is responsible would not feel comfortable and would feel the need to investigate."

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