NORML to hold vigil for drug war victims

Posted to Politics Watch by Brendan Gibbons at 11:57 p.m., Feb. 12, 2009

The Greater St. Louis Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is holding its annual candlelight vigil on Friday for those affected by marijuana laws.

The vigil will take place 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the St. Louis County Justice Center, according to the organization's Web site.

Participants representing "the responsible cannabis consumer" will gather to protest "the insanity and absurdity of the war on cannabis," the site stated.

According to the most recent report by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, there were 20,853 arrests in Missouri for marijuana possession in 2007.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that 1,527 kilograms of marijuana were seized in Missouri during the same year, according to its online drug profile of the state .

Missouri law states that possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana is punishable by a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. In Columbia, voters approved an ordinance decriminalizing marijuana, limiting the penalty of possession of less than 35 grams to a $250 fine.