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Group wants to decriminalize some marijuana violations

by: Associated Press
Sunday, September 23, 2007


JOPLIN, Mo. -- Joplin residents may be asked to vote next year on a proposal to reduce the penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana and the paraphernalia that’s used to smoke it.

A small group of supporters started the campaign to change the laws with a news conference Friday at Joplin’s City Hall.

Kelly Maddy, president of the Joplin chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he and others want to give Joplin citizens a chance to “enact a more sensible marijuana policy.”

Maddy was joined by Kris Krane, the executive director of the national organization Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and Ryan Denham, president of the Alliance for Drug Reform Policy in Arkansas.

More than 200 people were arrested in Joplin for marijuana use in 2005, said Maddy, who said police resources could be better used for more serious crime.

“Our city’s marijuana laws are not only a waste of taxpayer money and police resources, they are by definition a failed policy,” he said.



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