The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy launched a ballot initiative this week that would decriminalize marijuana possession in Miami Beach, Florida.  The group, headed by local attorney and activist Ford Banister, is working closely with SAFER and will be using the campaign to spread the message that marijuana is safer than alcohol and ought to be treated that way. (Find out more about the CSMP and its campaign at www.SensibleFlorida.com or via the CSMP Facebook page.)

As CBS 4 in Miami reported (video below):

If voters approve the amendment, it would make possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana a civil infraction rather than a misdemeanor crime, for which state law calls for up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines. Under the proposal, punishment of "personal possession'' would be a $100 fine. The amendment will also increase the discretion of the State Attorney to permit a plea to a civil infraction where appropriate.

That's the second focus of the committee. It is stressing a marijuana is safer than alcohol campaign that asserts marijuana is less addictive, less toxic and less likely to lead to violence than alcohol.

The group, supported in part by a grant from the Miami film studio Rakontur, must collect 4,240 valid signatures by the end of August, to qualify the measure for the November ballot.
 
"We are confident that the progressive and enlightened citizens of Miami Beach will agree that it's time we stop driving people to drink with excessive penalties for the use of a far safer substance," Banister said. "And if they do not yet know how much safer marijuana is than alcohol and the savings garnered by ending a failed policy, we will be working hard to educate them over the course of this campaign."

Stories about the campaign's launch also appeared in the Miami Herald, the Miami New Times, the South Florida Gay News, and on Miami's NBC affiliate.