[Mtnorml-list] Missoula Initiative #2 First Report

[Montana NORML]

Friends,

I'm happy to announce that the Initiative 2 committee released its first 
report today, evaluating the degree to which county government accepted 
the voters' recommendation that adult marijuana offenses be treated as 
the lowest priority for law enforcement.

The report is available here:
http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/initiative2/reports/2007/

As chair of the committee, I was the lead author, and provided in the 
report some historical and scientific context which I hope will be 
educational for government officials and the community. Additionally, of 
course, we presented our findings: that one person in Missoula County 
will be busted for a minor marijuana offense nearly every day in 2007.

In my brief presentation today, I also hit on the committee's primary 
recommendations:

- *the city and university should implement a low-priority policy as 
well* (this is the big one)
- data collection on arrests needs to be automated
- future reports should look at ALL effects of the initiative
- the county should report on these effects to the legislature
- future reports should explain all the agencies involved in busting people
- the county should provide a small budget for the committee to offset 
administrative costs


County Attorney VanValkenberg was there to congratulate himself (and the 
commissioners) for amending the voters' recommendation to apply only to 
misdemeanors this spring. He also endeavored to illustrate the gravity 
of felony marijuana offenses by pointing to the recent case of violent 
gun-toting criminals robbing and beating a man in a house which also 
contained marijuana.

Amendments: 
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/03/24/news/local/news04.txt

Violent Criminals:
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/11/13/news/local/news02.txt



Though I'm clearly biased, I think the report is quite good, and I hope 
you'll check it out and tell your friends about it.

http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/initiative2/reports/2007/

Much work is yet to be done to establish a sane adult marijuana policy 
in Montana. We are forging ahead, unafraid of the challenge and 
invigorated by recent successes.

Spread the word, will you?


John Masterson
Montana NORML