Initiative 502
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U.S. Senate hopeful Baumgartner endorses marijuana initiative
The Republican challenger for a Washington U.S. Senate seat endorsed a ballot measure Wednesday that would legalize marijuana for personal use in the state. State Sen. Mike Baumgartner, R-Spokane, said it was time for a new approach to the nation’s drug policy, and called Initiative 502 a “thoughtful step forward.” Time spent as an adviser to a counternarcotics team in Afghanistan convinced him that drug cartels are gaining from the United States’ approach to criminalizing marijuana for adults, he added.
Initiative or no, federal law trumps state on marijuana
Suppose voters decided that they’ve had it with federal drug rules that make marijuana an illegal substance akin to heroin or cocaine, and they change Washington state law to make marijuana legal. Not in all instances, not for everyone, not at any time. But for adults, in regulated quantities, for limited uses.
I-502’s fiscal result remains hazy
SEATTLE – The state’s latest financial analysis says legalizing and taxing marijuana could bring Washington as much as nearly $2 billion over the next five years – or as little as nothing. The Office of Financial Management released its fiscal impact statement for Initiative 502 on Friday, and the results track closely with its earlier analysis, released in March.
Local, state groups vie over city pot initiatives
Two groups who favor relaxed enforcement of marijuana laws are battling over similar initiatives they want to put before Spokane voters. Sensible Spokane and Sensible Washington, which are separate organizations, have each filed initiatives with the city of Spokane’s clerk’s office declaring intentions to collect signatures so voters could declare that marijuana laws aimed at adults are the city’s “lowest law enforcement priority.”
Lawmakers balk on marijuana initiative
OLYMPIA – Voters will have to decide this fall whether to legalize marijuana for personal use. The Legislature appears unlikely to vote on, or even debate, the marijuana initiative sent to them. The House and Senate government committees held a session Thursday to listen to supporters and opponents of Initiative 502, which would make personal use and possession of small amounts of marijuana legal for people over 21.
Advocates disagree on best way to regulate medical pot
Stevens County activists dressed in prison stripes recently were tossed out of Gonzaga University’s Cataldo Hall where Rick Steves, the travel writer and TV show host, was delivering a speech. Members of the November Coalition, a foundation dedicated to ending the drug war, had no gripe with Steves’ hotel recommendations, but rather with his public support for an initiative to reform Washington’s marijuana laws that the protesters say falls short of decriminalization.
Police says they’ll stop harassing pot supporters
The King County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Public Stadium Authority have agreed to stop harassing people collecting signatures outside the Seahawks football stadium for an initiative that would legalize and tax recreational marijuana in the state.