Referendum would change pot law
A public hearing will be held on Feb. 20 to
Published Feb. 7, 2006
Lax marijuana laws in Columbia might get a bit tougher if changes proposed at Monday's City Council meeting are passed.
"I think it would be a positive change to existing laws," Columbia police Chief Randy Boehm said.
A compromise between the Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education (CAPE) and the Columbia Police Officers' Association led to the changes, and it was proposed at the mayor's request to the City Council for a first reading. The city will have a public hearing on the proposed changes on Feb. 20.
"In general terms, it would allow us to look at repeat offenders differently than first offenders," Boehm said.
According to the proposed change, before a person receives a marijuana violation, if he or she is found either guilty of any felony in the past 10 years, guilty of a non-marijuana class-A misdemeanor in the past five years, or guilty of marijuana misdemeanors two or more times in the past five years, he or she would be exempt from the current Columbia marijuana ordinances.
Also, the suspect of a marijuana violation would be exempt from the city ordinance if he or she had a felony or misdemeanor charge that only could be tried in a state court. In this case, a person's marijuana violation must be from the same incident as the felony or misdemeanor for the marijuana charge to be sent to state court as well.
Columbia voters passed the current marijuana ordinance in November 2004. It changed the penalty for possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana from a felony to a misdemeanor. The proposed changes would exempt certain offenders from the ordinance.
"For the most part, I can understand that the police are trying to get the power to convict on more serious charges and to identify people with repeat offenses that might have drug problems," said Bailey Hirschburg, president of the MU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "But the time limit on that might keep it from identifying everyone. I can see the good and the bad in these changes."
Dan Viets, a local criminal defense attorney and member of the board of directors of CAPE, said his group ran the "official recognized campaign" for passage of the current ordinance.
Because representatives from both groups brought the compromise to the council, it was not necessary to put it back before the voters, Viets said.
"We don't want to have to fight another campaign against the Columbia Police Officers' Association," Viets said. "We don't want to lose this ordinance, and we're not giving up too much in this compromise. The essence of the ordinance will remain the same."
Boehm said regardless of whether the changes pass, police officers will continue to do their jobs the same as they always do.
"It's our job to enforce the laws as they are, and we will continue to do so whether or not these changes go through," Boehm said. "We hope the council passes these changes because we think they would have a positive effect on the community."