Marijuana:
Pot
an
Issue
in
Cincinnati
Mayoral
Race
10/14/05
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/407/cincinnati.shtml
Under Ohio law, possession
of up to four ounces of marijuana is considered a ticketable offense, punishable
by no more than a $150 fine. That was way too lenient for Cincinnati
mayoral candidate David Pepper, and back in June he briefly floated a proposal
to make it a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $500 fine and up to 90
days in jail. While that proposal went over like a lead balloon,
and Pepper soon backed away from it, the issue continues to play out in
Cincinnati pre-election politics.
At a question and answer
session with students at the Seven Hills Upper School last Friday, which
was covered by the Cincinnati Enquirer, one of the students asked Pepper
about his now abandoned proposal. "We have become the place in the
entire region where drugs are dealt," Pepper said, pointing to Vine Street
in the city's majority black Over-the-Rhine neighborhood as the area's
worst "open air drug market." In most drug arrests in Over-the-Rhine,
he added, neither the buyer nor the seller are from the neighborhood.
"They can have an enormous
amount of drugs and only get a ticket," he complained. "If you do
in San Diego what you do in Cincinnati, you get in a lot more trouble."
Pepper did not make clear why exposing the city's marijuana smokers to
"a lot more trouble" was a good thing, nor did he explain how increasing
penalties for marijuana possession would stop drug dealing.
The pot question and Pepper's
response left an opening for a rival, state Sen. Mark Mallory, who promptly
took advantage of it. "I hope you all got an answer out of that,
because I certainly did not," Mallory told the students. "Sometimes
you don't have a lot of experience with things and you don't know what
you're saying. If you have an ounce of marijuana on you, you're not
considered to be dealing in marijuana. Drug trafficking laws are
very different from drug possession laws," he said, and the focus should
be on distribution.
Pepper, the scion of a prominent,
wealthy Cincinnati family, has made a point of saying he has never smoked
marijuana.
-- END --
Issue #407
-- 10/14/05
Editorial:
Why
I'm
Still
an
Optimist
|
Feature:
Former
Lawman's
Coast
to
Coast
Horse
Ride
to
Legalize
Drugs
Concludes
at
Statue
of
Liberty
|
Feature:
Loretta
Nall
Enters
Alabama
Governor's
Race
|
DRCNet
Book
Review:
"Busted:
Drug
War
Survival
Skills
From
the
Buy
to
the
Bust
to
Begging
for
Mercy"
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Weekly:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Central
Asia:
Afghan
President
Publicly
Links
Drug
Trafficking,
Terrorism
|
Medical
Marijuana:
Canadians
Deport
Activist/Patient
Steve
Tuck,
Now
Imprisoned
Without
Medical
Care
by
US
Authorities
|
Marijuana:
Pot
an
Issue
in
Cincinnati
Mayoral
Race
|
Employment:
FBI
May
Revise
Hiring
Rules
for
Former
Marijuana
and
Other
Drug
Users
|
Middle
East:
US
Invasion,
Continuing
Insurgency
Lead
to
Increasing
Drug
Use
in
Iraq
|
Europe:
Study
Calls
Into
Question
France's
Obsession
with
"Drugged
Driving"
|
Europe:
Most
Marijuana
in
United
Kingdom
Now
Home-Grown
By
Socially
Conscious
Users
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
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