ARKANSAS RANKS 10TH IN MARIJUANA ARRESTS

Other drug busts -- for cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin -- are more
likely to make the headlines, but marijuana-related crimes haven't
faded away. According to a study by a national group that supports
legalization of the drug, a person is more likely to be arrested for a
marijuana-related offense in Arkansas than in 40 other states.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in
Washington compared marijuana arrests nationwide. The group found
Arkansas ranks 10th in marijuana-related arrests, with an average of
318.69 arrests per 100,000 residents.

Keith Stroup, the organization's director, said the study was
conducted to dispel the "apparent belief on the part of some folks
that nobody gets arrested for smoking marijuana anymore."

But many law enforcement officers in Arkansas say that a person
charged with a marijuana-related crime usually is also charged with
another offense. For example, police may bust a crack house or a
methamphetamine laboratory and also find marijuana.

"With a few exceptions, we're not after the user. We are after the
dealer," said Sgt. J.B. Stephens of the narcotics unit of the Little
Rock Police Department. "But we will arrest the user if he is stupid
enough to walk in front of us smoking it."

Possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is now a misdemeanor in
Arkansas, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine not exceeding
$1,000.

The study is based on marijuana arrest records for 1995-1997 compiled
by the FBI. The FBI got its numbers on Arkansas arrests from the state
Crime Information Center, which compiles data submitted monthly by law
enforcement agencies.

Jon Gettman, who has a doctorate in public policy from George Mason
University in Virginia, performed the study. Gettman performs
marijuana research and has been an employee of the pro-marijuana
organization.

The nine states with higher marijuana-related arrest rates per 100,000
people than Arkansas are:

Alaska -- 417.71

New York -- 404.59

Nebraska -- 384.25

Mississippi -- 379.46

South Carolina -- 379.44

Arizona -- 357.69

Georgia -- 337.99

Utah -- 330.50

Louisiana -- 327.53

The report said Arkansas had 8,046 marijuana-related arrests in
1997.

The study also includes a look at each of the state's 75 counties.
Ashley County in deep southwest Arkansas had the highest number of
marijuana arrests per capita, recording 194 arrests on
marijuana-related charges in 1997. That amounts to 7.63 arrests per
1,000 people.

Ashley County Sheriff Billy Hudson said his staff makes cracking down
on drug crimes -- including marijuana possession -- a priority.

"The drug trafficking and the damages that it causes our society and
economy is one of the major problems facing this country," Hudson
said. "You've got your drug addicts selling a $500 television for two
rocks of cocaine or a bag of marijuana or an ounce of crystal
[methamphetamine]. You've got 12- and 14-year-old girls prostituting
for the same reason."

Hudson said many of his marijuana-related arrests result from routine
traffic stops. Other arrests come from covert drug operations.

"It's kind of like fishing. They've got to eat sometimes," Hudson
said. "You stay out there with them and sooner or later, you will
catch somebody."

Officials say the main drug problem in Ashley County, as in many other
Arkansas counties, is methamphetamine production and sales.

In the county-by-county comparison, Monroe County in eastern Arkansas
was next in highest marijuana arrests rates per capita with 82
marijuana arrests, or 7.46 arrests per 1,000 people, the report shows.

Monroe County Sheriff Billy Joe Morris couldn't be reached for comment
last week. But he said in December that the thrust of drug
investigations in his county also involves methamphetamine. Deputies
frequently catch drug traffickers who speed down Interstate 40, he
said.

Franklin County in western Arkansas is next with 104 marijuana-related
arrests, or 6.44 per 1,000 people.

"Marijuana and drugs are a problem everywhere," Franklin County
Sheriff Kenneth Ross said. "Just because we may be more aggressive
than other areas doesn't mean there is not a problem
everywhere."

Though Pulaski County is Arkansas' largest in terms of population, it
ranks only 24th in marijuana arrests per 1,000 people.

The report shows 1,255 people were arrested in Pulaski County on
marijuana-related charges in 1997, or 3.45 arrests per 1,000 people.
The report includes city police agencies, the sheriff's office and
arrests made by university campus police.

Officer Terry Hastings, a spokesman for the Little Rock Police
Department, said one reason is that much of the marijuana in Arkansas
is grown in rural areas of the state, not metropolitan areas.

Stephens, with the narcotics unit, said marijuana "doesn't seem to be
the drug of choice anymore."

"Cocaine is the No. 1 problem in this city, period," Stephens said.