Marijuana Policy Project

Backers of a voter-rejected ballot proposal softening city marijuana penalties and allowing pot by prescription said White House opposition killed the measure.

Complete but unofficial returns from Tuesday's election showed nearly 58 percent of Columbia voters were against Proposition 1, placed on the ballot by petition and financially backed by national marijuana advocacy groups.

With about 28 percent of the city's voters turning out, the measures was defeated 10,075-7,348.

The proposal would have made Columbia the only place in Missouri where doctors could prescribe marijuana for the seriously ill. Nine states and several local governments have approved the practice, amid legal challenges from the federal government.

Its sentencing section would have required that arrests for possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana within the city be handled in municipal court rather than circuit court.

Anthony Johnson, a University of Missouri-Columbia law student who spearheaded the drive for Proposition 1, blamed the defeat on what he called a "misinformation campaign unchallenged by the media and driven by the Bush administration."

Scott Burns, deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, visited Columbia last week to condemn marijuana while stressing that the Bush administration wasn't telling residents how to vote.

"The federal government will continue to get out the truth regarding marijuana and will aggressively support local efforts to educate and inform the public about the dangers of marijuana," Burns said in a statement Tuesday evening.

Boosters of Proposition 1 said they raised about $30,000, but couldn't counter the weight of a White House official flanked by local law enforcement criticizing the measure at a widely covered news conference.

"Using taxpayer funds to affect a local election is not appropriate, and the Bush administration managed to create confusion," Johnson said at a subdued election watch party.

Boosters said the sentencing language would have spared college students from a permanent criminal record for pot possession - and protect their federal student aid, which can be cancelled because of drug convictions.

Municipal convictions for possession of less than 35 grams - an amount critics said would yield several joints - would have been punishable by fines, not jail time. The maximum fine would be $500 for the fourth and subsequent offenses.

Law enforcement officials said Proposition 1 would have removed their discretion in cases where a known drug dealer facing multiple counts could be charged and sentenced more harshly.