The City Council reluctantly placed Measure Y on the ballot, forced to do so under California elections code because supporters, Santa Monicans For Sensible Marijuana Policy, were successful in gathering the 5,580 signatures needed for it to qualify. That figure represents 10 percent of the 55,801 registered voters living in Santa Monica, according to the City Clerk’s Office.
The measure, supported by the National Organization for Marijuana Reform and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, would make adult marijuana use in someone’s private residence the lowest law enforcement priority for the Santa Monica Police Department. Adult applies to anyone who is over 21 years old. The initiative would not legalize marijuana, or allow adults to smoke it in public or while operating a car.
Supporters brought the initiative before the City Council following a survey which showed that 73 percent of voters here “agree that adults that use marijuana but otherwise follow the law should not be criminalized,” according to the group’s Web site. Supporters believe the war on drugs has failed and that valuable law enforcement resources are being wasted on locking up harmless marijuana users.
“This is a minor adjustment,” in the priority given to calls for service, said Bill Zimmerman, a supporter. “This will not affect your ability to fight crime, but in fact provide you with more resources to better deal with more serious offenses.”
The measure would prohibit the SMPD from working with state or federal agencies to do enforcement work within the lowest priority and from receiving federal funds for such work. The measure also would require oversight by the City Council to ensure compliance, including semi-annual reports on arrests and other statistics. The City Council also would be required to receive complaints from those who believe they were arrested in a manner inconsistent with the measure.
The City Clerk’s Office would be forced to send letters every year to federal and state officials, including the President of the United States and the governor of California, requesting that similar laws be enacted elsewhere.
Former SMPD Chief James T. Butts, as well as Greg Smiley, the president of the Police Officer’s Association, have come out against the law, charging that it would inhibit officers from uncovering more serious crimes and allows for the smoking of hashish and other cannabis products containing high concentrations of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive substance found in marijuana plants.
“I don’t think this is the message we want to be sending our children, that marijuana is not a big deal,” said SMPD officer Mohamed Marhaba.
The last day to register to vote in the election is Oct. 23. Voters may request absentee ballots Oct. 9 through Oct. 31.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 21, 2006. Read the original PDF.