The State - News from July 27, 1989

Some Berkeley residents want a chance to vote on the city’s 10-year-old law ordering police to make enforcement of marijuana laws their lowest priority. The Berkeley Black Property Owners Assn. launched a petition drive to collect enough signatures to place the issue on the June, 1990, ballot. Association president Jim Smith noted that drugs have become a “devastating problem” in Berkeley and said, “We don’t feel we can tell our kids, ‘Say no to some drugs, but not to others.’ ” The petition drive came after members of the City Council voted 5 to 3 recently to keep the lax marijuana law on the books. City Councilwoman Ann Chandler said that people favoring a vote on the marijuana law are exaggerating its importance. “I want our police resources dealing with crack (cocaine),” she said.