Dealer now target of enforcement of marijuana laws
(Editor's note): This is the second in a four-part series examining martiana use by University of Kansas students. Today's part looks at how laws affect martiana use.)
By BRUCE SPENCE
The war on drugs still rages.
But recently a White House task-force report on drug abuse concluded that after several years of failure to meet impossible high expectations, a new strategy was called for.
From all indications, Kansas appears to have adopted a similar view.
Both state and Douglas County officials say enforcement of narcotics-related laws is being aimed at the dealer of drugs, especially the "hard" drugs. These include the most common that increasingly popular hemp plant—marijuana.
DAVE BERKOWITZ, Douglas County attorney, says that anyone arrested for possessing four ounces or less of marijuana and who has no prior criminal charges may be offered deferred prosecution.
during that period and is dropped if the person stays out of trouble with the law for the six months.
Under deferred prosecution, the defendant must promise not to break any laws other than traffic law.
The defendant also must participate in a drug education program at Headquarters, Inc., a 24-hour-a-day drug-crisis center. The program tries to provide opportunities for personal and informational support for those intervention of alternatives to drugs, such as meditation, biofeedback and guided effective imagery.
Berkowitz said the deferred prosecution policy began in 1973 as a result of a large number of highly unimportant "marjuna busta that occurred under the hassy of former Atty. Gen. Vern Miller.
BERKOWTZ SAID he made his own policy and didn't confer with the attorney general at all. He said many other counties in Kansas also were using deferred prosecution.
Another Berkowitz policy requests that the police and sheriff's departments not arrest residents of Douglas County who have been caught with one ounce or less of marijuana in their possession. The evidence is confiscated and the person is issued a summons to appear in court.
Berkowitz said he made it clear when he first ran for county attorney in 1972 that he didn't consider himself a candidate.
That fact, he said, might have induced many students to vote for him.
The peak year for drug arrests was 1971. That year there were 195 drug cases in Douglas County, about twice the yearly average of the number of cases involved in each of the cases involved possession of marijuana.
DRUG ARREST figures for the past four years are: 172-108 arrests; 173-61 arrests; 174-110 arrests. 175-guys figures are not yet tabulated but the reports that they were about the same as those for 1974.
A breakdown of drug arrests in 1974 shows that 81 of the 110 drug arrests were marijuana-related: 52 for simple possession of one or two ounces of marijuana, 22 for sale of marijuana, six for aiding and abetting the sale of marijuana and one for delivery of marijuana.
Berkowitz said there had been only four or five nerkin cases in Lawrence since he had been in office.
Richard Stanix, Lawrence police chief, had little to say on the matter.
"The CA (County Attorney) sets the policy," he said, "and we enforce and follow it.
"If people decide they want pot legalized and change the law, then we will enforce the new law."
AT THE STATE level, the number of drug arrests has increased dramatically each year, but statistics keep by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) that in 2017 there were many of how many of the arrests are for possession, not theft.
issue of state militia* (1968, 1969).
Drug arrest records for Kansas. 1970-1418; 1971-2,543; 1972-3,319; 1973-4,696;
1974-5,500. These figures include drug arrests by county police forces as well as the KBI, which operates under the auspices of the attorney general's office.
Dan Watkins, assistant atty, gen., said the number of drug arrests had increased since Atty. Watkins reported that 43 cases.
The attorney general's office takes a firm position on drug arrests and laws—including marijuana. His press said, wouldn't be affected by any public pressure he could issue to pressure off those who might use marijuana.
"We enforce the law, and it says you can't possess marijuana," he said. "And we're in the business of enforcing laws."
THE SUPERVISOR of the narcotics division of the KBI, Jack West, said, however, that his bureau didn't set out to collar those who use martjuana on a casual basis.
"Primarily, we're not interested in marijuana-
related arrests," he said. "We're after the hard drugs.
"The problem that we get into is that we're not, per se, after the user. We're after the people pushing for profit. If the investigator gets out of his car and comes up to a house full of people who light up a joint or two, he still has to write a report on them even though he was only a dealer."
The report, which includes all the information on the marijuana smokers, is turned over to the prosecutor or county attorney. West said. Whether charges are adjudicated or pressed charges are entirely up to them, he said.
West couldn't explain the increase in the number of drug arrests under Schneider's administration. There have been no major policy changes, and the KBI still uses the same type of system of undercover agents and the normal teams of investigators they have always used, he said.
THE GRADEAL change away from the pursuit of casual marjuana users has been brought on mainly by a lack of enough law enforcement people to cover the entire drug scene, West said.
"You have to set your priorities when you've got the money. Your emphases must be on the major drugs and the poisons."
See MARIJUANA page 7
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The University of Kansas—Lawrence, Kansas
Vol. 86 No.103
Sanitation employs air views on city problems
Phil Bohlander
(Editor's note: The following is an interview with Dennis Smith, president of the Lawrence Sanitation Employees Association, and Phil Bohlander, leader at the beginning of sanitation employee training. They are among those who spoke frequently on policies and procedure during recent investigations and study sessions.
The interview was conducted last week. Following spring break, the Kanans plans to print an interview with the executive director about the mkagement investigation.
By MARY ANN DAUGHERTY
One of the things that makes me mad is what the two city commissioners (Marinie Argerstein and Donald Bimbs) and the Rev. (Homer "Butch") Henderson and Muriel Paul said so many times during the investigation. They blamed us for putting the superintendents in danger, and they called Wiley, streets) or putting them on probation. They weren't even mentioned in the resolution.
Smith: I think it took three months to everybody in the city we needed a safety maintenance program and evaluations once a year. The only thing that came out of it was they (city administrators) inflicted pain on things they knew about 10 months ago.
Q: Do you think the resolution passed by the Lawrence City Commission after the mismanagement investigations did any good?
Smith: I think it was a pacifier. You work your way up to Buford Watson (city manager), who has the final say. I don't see how one man can have the authority to make every decision on every grievance.
Q: Do you think the grievance procedure changes were helpful?
Dennis Smith
Q: During the investigation, what changes did you most want the reports to recommend?
Teaching metrics only one hurdle to its adoption
Tuesday, March 9, 1976
Smith: Our main concern was letting people know the only way to solve these problems was to give us the United Public Employees Association of Louisiana a copy of his written agreement stating that these problems won't exist any longer.
Q: Do you think Watson is chiefly responsible for "mismanagement?"
But none of these things go on. That's what hacked me off about that damn rule. I couldn't get the rules that came down were reported to me and need someone following us around all the time. What we need is to know there will be communication between labor and management.
Bohlander: It means city administration is just plain sloppy. One time we asked for better supervision. What we ended up with was a totally wrong decision. It means everyone has to be watched like a hawk because he doesn't have the brains to pick up a garbage can and empty it properly. But it does mean if there's a faulty container, it should be repaired. If there's a trash-packaging problem, the resident should be notified. If a man isn't on work on time he should be notified.
Q: In light of the press release, will your pressure on city administrators and citizens be increased?
Bohlander: When the UPEA called for investigation of management it listed 24 charges of mismanagement—not just that we wanted evaluations every year. And said there were gross problems with what they were asking us to look at, what we were askout an investigation of.
Q: Your response to the resolution was rather lukewarm. The UPEA pledged to work with the city to make the resolution as hard as the response your true feeling?
Bohander: Everyone was disappointed with the resolution. It had been our hope we could open lines of communication. We don't necessarily want to back anyone up against the wall. If we do, a totally antagonistic approach in front of (or behind) them would only have further alienated everyone.
Smith: I personally think it (the resolution) was a pretty lively deal.
Q: What does "mismanagement" mean?
Smith: I think it's neglect on his part as well as every other manager in the city. He (Watson) holds a responsibility to see that the city operates in a smooth
Smith; No, it'll get worse.
See page 8
But that doesn't mean he (Watson) shouldn't be checked once in a while. When I vote for members of the city commission, that's what I assume they do.
Bohander: the coalition (UPEA) has a tendency to believe that Watson runs the mission does. I guess it works on sign variances. It's a new step to have the city commission investigate it and frankly, I think it's a healthy thing.
Q: Dennis, you were part of the committee that recently spent two months investigating mismanagement. Would you describe the split between the six members that led to two reports being fled?
manner. What I've seen out of him, as far as being a member of the investigating committee, is that all the departments are a complete shambles.
Q: Is part of the problem the commission-city manager power structure?
Smith: The superintendent (Purdy) is the problem, with dealing, with men every day. But Buford (Watson) is the problem, as seeing that things get taken care of.
Smith: As soon as they (Argersinger, Henderson and Binns) starting write the report, they were like a rubber ball—they'd bounce one way and then the other. They'd say, "There're just no way they can stay." And pretty soon, "Well, they're not really bad guys. Maybe we can put them on six months probation period." And a little bit later, "Well, they're make mistakes. We can work them in."
I just got so sick and tired of hearing that kind of stuff from people who are supposed to be employ representatives. To hear complaints from everyone who testified, and then turn right around and meet with them, they say people they (Purdy and Wiley) are, and that they can work things out after 10 months of fighting, is pretty ridiculous.
That's what split it. if they would have gone ahead and done the job they were put on the committee to do-investigate the problem. I think the support of all the working people
See EMPLOYES page 5
New lines to supplement WATS
A private, long distance telephone net-
ware state office is scheduled to begin in
March.
Ron Fugate, information manager for the Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., said yesterday that the network, called KANS-A, has more data at WATS line but changer, and more efficient.
Fugate said he didn't know how much the system would cost or how much it would
Telephones connected to KANS-A-N also will be connected to the commercial telephone.
To be connected with KANS-A-N, the user will dial an code, he said, and then directly enter the name of the phone number for procedures will be used for calling numbers on and off the network, he said.
- N won't completely replace the
WATS line, Fugate said, because it will serve numbers in only the 813 and 316 area codes in Kansas and the 816 area code in Missouri.
The network will serve 33 cities in Kansas and about 500 state governmental agencies. All state agencies will be connected with KANS-A-N, be said.
The KU telephones now connected to the WATS line will be converted to the KANS-A-N line. KU WATS line calls now can be received at Carson City, Kan., and Mo., and Manhattan.
Southwestern Bell will sponsor 16 training sessions in the use of KANS-A-N at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m, 1:30 a.m, and 3 p.m. March 18 in both Wesoe auditoriums and at 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. March 22-23 in the Forum Room of the Kansas Union.
Films will be shown and instructions will be given on calling procedures, he said.
Susan Sutton, secretary in central personnel offices and coordinator of the training sessions, said about 600 people at KU would attend the sessions.
Fugate said, "It isn't the easiest system in the world to understand, and if we put in a new piece of equipment or system, it's our job to show people how to use it."
A telephone network similar to KANS-A-N is now in use in Texas, and Kreasers' is the second one in the Midwest, he said. It also may be the second one in the nation, he said.
Merchants leery of handgun bill
KANS-A-N is the most complex communications system ever devised for a single customer, Fugate said. About 90,000 systems does the state system together, he said.
Staff Writer
By JACK FISCHER
Local gun retailers are skeptical of the efficiency of a gun bill in the Kansas Senate that requires a one-week waiting period to be approved of a handgun and taking possession of it.
Retailers in Lawrence all agreed that the law would do little or nothing to stem the acquisition of handguns for criminal use and that retailers' efforts to get a gun other than through a retaliation
EDWARD REILLY, chairman of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee.
The bill, as amended in the Kansas House, also requires that the purchaser be fingerprinted and permits the waving of a flag. This disclosure of local law enforcement officials.
said committee members hadn't looked at the bill yet so it was impossible to say whether it would be further amended or passed by the Senate.
Really said he thought the proposed law was "administrative boondoggle" because it would be used to punish someone.
Moreover, Reilly said, it would probably be routine for law enforcement officers to investigate the shooting.
MASSACHUSETTS has the strictest gun registration laws in the country, requiring an one-year mandatory sentence without probation for the possession of an unregistered gun, and they have one of the most homicide rates in the country, he said.
"I have doubts about any registration bills," Kelly said.
Instead, he said he favored mandatory
sentences without probation for the illegal use of a gun.
"I would think twice about using a gun in that situation," he said.
Diane Morris, manager of Morris Sports, said he thought the bill was a step in the right direction but doubted it would affect the crime rate.
"My impression is that criminals purchased guns by mail or through the black market."
Morris said he had discussed gun control with other retailers, and, although they couldn't think of a foolproof way to keep landmands from criminals, they agreed that they would and enforcing laws against mall-order business would be an effective way to start.
"WHY THEY DON'T do that I don't
See HANDGUN page 7
Bicentennial bell
The official Douglas County Bicentennial bell, now on display at the Lawrence National Bank, was designed by two local artists.
The bell will eventually be placed on permanent display at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center. See story page 3.