[420 Girl]

Stevens Point - Getting caught with a little bit of pot might not mean a trip to Portage County Circuit Court.

The county's public safety committee Wednesday endorsed a proposal from the sheriff's department to allow deputies to issue an ordinance citation to anyone caught with a small amount of marijuana.

Deputies can choose to write the citation for first-time offenders caught with less than 25 grams of marijuana. The offense carries a $200 fine, plus court costs.

Sheriff John Charewicz said other counties in the state have adopted similar practices, after recent state legislation was enacted, in an effort to streamline the criminal justice system.

"In a lot of cases, when someone is arrested for a small amount of marijuana, the (district attorney) chooses not to prosecute because there really isn't a lot of merit in it," he said. "This might end up being more punishment than they were getting before. This would give the officers another option."

District Attorney Tom Eagon said officers can issue ordinance citations for other offenses and this policy wouldn't create any problems in prosecution.

"The monetary sanction is often enough to stop people from coming back through the system again," Eagon said. "And very often we treat (the drug possession) as a read-in."

This is not a step toward decriminalizing marijuana or other drugs, Charewicz said. Offenders will get a follow-up visit from the drug unit after the bust.

Portage County Sheriff's Department drug investigator Deputy Josh Ostrowski said he envisions officers writing citations sparingly.

"Twenty-five grams is not typically for personal use. I would be upset if someone were to issue a citation for that amount," he said. "This would be used more when you are talking about a gram or two."

An ounce of marijuana, roughly 28 grams, has a street value in Portage County of between $150 and $500 depending on the potency and quality of the drug, Ostrowski said. Marijuana is the preferred drug of choice in the area and there is more of it around when the university is in session, Ostrowski said.

The county board of supervisors needs to approve the proposal before it takes effect.

District 9 Supervisor Dave Medin is in favor of it.

"With our sheriff no one's going to get any extra leniency," he said. "It's just so time-consuming and expensive to prosecute some of the smaller drug charges that this makes sense."


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