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# Marijuana lowest law enforcement priority policy ordinance
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/marijuana-lowest-law-enforcement-priority-policy-ordinance/
- Published: 2006-08-12T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T21:10:21.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

The council reluctantly placed this measure on the ballot earlier this week, 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 over 21 years old. The initiative would not legalize marijuana, nor allow adults to smoke it in public or while operating a car.

Supporters brought the initiative before the 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 squandered on locking up harmless marijuana users.

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 would also require oversight by the council to ensure compliance, including semi-annual reports on arrests and other statistics. The council would also 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 also 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.

SMPD Chief James T. Butts, as well as the president of the Police Officer’s Association, have come out against the ordinance, 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 psychoac-tive substance found in marijuana plants. The president of the police union, Sgt. Greg Smiley, said officers will campaign to defeat the measure.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 12, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081206.pdf?ref=smdp.com)