Candidates for Wichita mayor clash over marijuana initiative

Wichita mayoral candidates Jeff Longwell and Sam Williams clashed over marijuana reform in a debate before a police booster group Thursday.

Williams, a retired ad executive, said that if he were mayor he would have tried to block a citizens initiative group from getting a measure on the April 7 election ballot. The initiative seeks to change city code and reduce the penalties for adults possessing and using small amounts of marijuana in Wichita.

“It’s not our issue,” Williams said. “It should not have been at the city level. … May I suggest that as a leader, I would have worked with our council to help that not to even happen.”

He said he would have instead met with petition advocates to communicate their concerns to the state government.

Longwell, a City Council member, said petition organizers gathered the signatures that state law said they needed to put the marijuana initiative on the ballot and that the council needed to respect that and comply with the law governing local initiatives.

The council voted to place the issue on the ballot.

“At the end of the day, they followed the framework of democracy, and those voices should be heard,” Longwell said.

He added that it made more sense for 40,000-plus residents to send their own message to Topeka, rather than having to filter that through the mayor.

Whatever the outcome on the city initiative, Longwell said, there will be opportunities after the vote for state government to weigh in and either change state marijuana law or challenge the legality of the initiative’s provisions.

Although Kansas allows citizen initiatives at the local level, there is no process for anyone but the Legislature to put a state law to a vote of the people. Marijuana reform advocates have repeatedly attended forums to ask legislators for changes, with no visible effect in Topeka.

State Attorney General Derek Schmidt has said that in his opinion, the Wichita marijuana initiative conflicts with state law and would be unenforceable.

Attorney general opinions function as official guidance on questions of law until and unless a court rules otherwise.

Longwell and Williams debated during a luncheon meeting of the Wichita Crime Commission. The group is composed of active and retired law-enforcement officers and supporters.

This story was originally published March 26, 2015 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Candidates for Wichita mayor clash over marijuana initiative."