Marijuana Issue Headed To Ballot In Cottleville

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Missouri - Cottleville voters on April 6 will tell Missouri lawmakers whether they support legalizing medical marijuana.

"I realize a lot of people will not be in favor of this," said Cottleville Mayor Don Yarber. "We represent the people. Why put tape over their mouths and say you don't get to vote on this? Why not let them speak their minds and let their voices be heard?"

Proposition C, the first of two nonbinding referendums on the city's April ballot, asks voters if they support Missouri House Bill 1670, which would legalize marijuana for medical purposes and reclassify its status as a controlled substance. If passed by the Legislature, the House bill would trigger a statewide vote in November 2011.

Proposition V on the Cottleville ballot asks voters if they want the Missouri General Assembly to put the provisions of House Bill 1670 on the Nov. 2, 2010, statewide ballot.

Yarber, 70, is a vocal supporter of legalizing medical marijuana. His wife, 66-year-old Sylvia Yarber, used marijuana to relieve the effects of chemotherapy treatment after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993.

The drug restored her appetite and relieved nausea, she said. She has not used marijuana since completing her cancer treatment 16 years ago, she said.

"This is a compassionate drug," Don Yarber said. "We are not advocating it for recreational use. I don't want to confuse the two issues."

The state bill is sponsored by Rep. Kate Meiners, D-46th District. She sponsored a similar medical marijuana bill last year, but that proposal was blocked by House Speaker Ron Richard, R-129th District. Meiners, who represents Kansas City, said last month she and like-minded colleagues intend to continue introducing the bill year after year.

Yarber said he planned to visit Jefferson City this week to talk to Meiners and other lawmakers.

"If I'm asking the state to put it on the ballot, shouldn't I, in good conscience, put it on the city ballot?" Yarber said.

The four-member Cottleville Board of Aldermen on Jan. 21 unanimously approved the ballot language.

Cottleville Alderman Jim Hennessey, Ward 1, said all the aldermen were "concerned" when Yarber proposed the ballot items.

"There was a good amount of discussion in the work session," Hennessey said. "We thought medical marijuana was one thing, a necessary evil for some people with cancers and other diseases. But we were concerned that some people would think they could go get marijuana in Cottleville now. That is not what is going to happen."

If a majority of voters supported the propositions, Hennessey said it could make it easier "further down the road" for the board to pass an ordinance legalizing medical marijuana in Cottleville.

"It would say yes, our citizens are OK with it," Hennessey said. "But there is a hierarchy in government - federal, state, municipal. If the state does nothing about it, what we pass may or may not hold water. But first things first, and that is getting an idea of what the citizens of Cottleville think. If the citizens say we don't want medical marijuana, no matter what, it is my job as a representative of the people of Cottleville to vote against it."

If Cottleville voters support medical marijuana, it could "start the ball rolling with other municipalities," Hennessey said.

"They could say, you know what, Cottleville did it, so let's pass the same thing and take care of people who are sick, if they need it and have a doctor's prescription," Hennessey said.

In January, New Jersey became the 14th state to legalize medical marijuana. In 2004, voters in Columbia, Mo., passed a law allowing people to use medical marijuana under a physician's care.

St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said the Cottleville propositions would have no impact on state law, which currently prohibits medical marijuana.

"In a perfect world, it would be great if they could do something," Banas said. "Certainly, marijuana has been shown to help those individuals with some of these serious afflictions. It does seem to have a positive effect on those people going through chemotherapy treatments, those with glaucoma and other illnesses. If that could be confined, they could do that.

"But by doing that, you then wind up proliferating more of a drug that is mainly for recreational use. It tends to create more people abusing it. That is one of the main issues that law enforcement, myself included, has with this business of trying to legalize it. How do you control it once you do that?"


NewsHawk: User: http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: suburbanjournals.stltoday.com
Author: Raymond Castile
Copyright: 2010 stltoday.com
Contact: Suburban Journals | Contact Us |
Website: Suburban Journals | Special Feature | Marijuana issue headed to ballot in Cottleville

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Originally Posted by aerohotrod420

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