Marijuana Law Could Cost State $1 Million
by HARRY ESTEVE

August 06, 1998 - Register Guard - rgletters@guardnet.com

If Oregon voters want to get tough on people caught with small amounts of marijuana, it could cost the state more than $1 million annually in lost revenues and added expenses, according to an official estimate released Wednesday.

The amount startled a chief supporter of Ballot Measure 57, which makes it a Class C misdemeanor - instead of a simple violation - to possess less than an ounce of marijuana. But she said the higher figure wouldn't alter her support.

"You've given me some information I didn't have previously," state Sen. Eileen Qutub, R-Beaverton, said after hearing about the new fiscal impact statement on the measure.

"But I do think it's worth it because it sends a message to young people that (using pot) is not a good thing."

Foes of marijuana recriminalization said the money would be better spent on prevention and addiction treatment programs.

The estimated price tag is higher than most state lawmakers thought it would be because they didn't understand all of the implications of recriminalization, said state Rep. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, an outspoken opponent of the proposed law.

"The Legislature, in their zest to look tough on crime, they lost the big picture," Prozanski said.

The 1997 Legislature passed a law that upped the penalties for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana, and Gov. John Kitzhaber signed it.

But opponents of recriminalization gathered enough signatures to refer the bill to the state's voters in November.

By law, the state must estimate how much any given ballot measure will cost if approved.

According to the fiscal impact statement, the state would have to spend an additional $586,000 per year to cover the cost of increased law enforcement, court-appointed attorneys to defend people arrested under the new law, court operations and jury payments.

That cost was largely anticipated. What came as a surprise was a second estimate of a $638,000 annual loss of state revenues because of a quirk in the way fines are levied for marijuana possession.

Under the current law, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is considered a "violation," not a crime, and treated much like a traffic violation. But the fines are much stiffer. The minimum fine for pot possession is $500.

If Measure 57 passes, police and district attorneys will have the choice of prosecuting the offense as a misdemeanor, which carries with it the threat of jail time, or as a violation.

However, because the old marijuana possession law would be repealed, the $500 minimum fine no longer would be valid. Instead, if the case was prosecuted as a violation, it would be subject to a maximum fine of $250.

Police and prosecutors testified at legislative hearings that they expect fully 40 percent of prosecutions under the proposed law to be handled as violations rather than misdemeanors.

"It's kind of a Catch-22," Prozanski said.

Prosecutors said they would go for the lesser sanction as a way to save on court costs, he said, "but what they didn't realize is that, in doing so, they're setting up a loss of 50 percent of the revenue" they would get from fines.

Although the $1.2 million annual price tag is small compared with the potential budget impacts of some other measures on the Nov. 3 ballot, it could give opponents ammunition as they try to persuade voters to let the current law stand.

"That's a higher cost than what the general understanding was among legislators," said Rep. Lane Shetterly, R-Dallas. But, Shetterly said, it's up to the voters to decide whether the state would get its money's worth.

"It's important to ask not only if voters want it (recriminalization), but also if they're willing to pay for it," Shetterly said.

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