Marijuana Policy Project

Four liberal Dane County Board members are questioning the district attorney's decision to pursue a felony drug charge against a Madison man who declined a deal to plead guilty or no contest to misdemeanor marijuana possession.

In a letter to Democratic District Attorney Brian Blanchard, the board members note the county's top prosecutor recently raised concerns about budget constraints and asked county officials for more staff.

The letter signed by Progressive Dane Sups. Ashok Kumar, Al Matano, Kyle Richmond and Barbara Vedder criticizes Blanchard's office for filing a felony charge against a county resident who allegedly "handed a marijuana cigarette to a colleague during a demonstration in favor of relaxation of anti-marijuana law in Downtown Madison."

"The decision to file and pursue such charges calls into question the district attorney's office commitment to conserving its resources for pursuit of serious crimes," the letter states.

The case involves Madison resident Chris Lankford, 31, who was arrested by UW-Madison police at October's Great Marijuana Harvest Fest.

Originally, Lankford was charged with marijuana possession, a misdemeanor, but the case was dropped in February and refiled as delivery of marijuana, a felony, after he declined the plea deal. According to police, Lankford was carrying six more joints.

Blanchard, who said this year that his office would no longer file criminal charges in cases of simple possession because it lacked the resources, defended his office's handling of the Lankford case.

"We have a sensible drug enforcement policy that places a low priority on routine marijuana cases," Blanchard said in an e-mail. "If the four supervisors are asking this office effectively to decriminalize marijuana distribution in Dane County, I'm afraid that is not a reasonable option."