Spokane7
65°
April 29, 2011 in City
Gregoire vetoes most of marijuana bill
OLYMPIA – State workers will not be licensing medical marijuana growers or dispensaries, and patients will not be able to sign onto a registry that could save them from arrest.
Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed most of a bill Friday afternoon that would have established a state structure for the production and sale of medical marijuana, saying she feared state workers involved in the system would face federal prosecution.
“We cannot assure protections to patients in a way that subjects state employees to prosecution,” she said. “That is not acceptable. It is not workable.”
She left intact a few of the bill’s provisions, including a section that says medical marijuana patients don’t lose parental rights and an organ transplant can’t be denied for medicinal use of the plant. But she vetoed most sections dealing with “dispensaries,” which are the subject of a federal crackdown in Spokane.
A spokesman for Washington medical marijuana businesses said Gregoire’s action makes operating a dispensary even more difficult, because she left in a section that requires a provider to wait 15 days between patients. Ezra Eickmeyer, of the Washington Cannabis Association, said dispensaries believe they currently comply with the law by serving only one patient at a time. He acknowledged, however, that defense didn’t work in a recent criminal prosecution in Spokane; that conviction is being appealed.
Gregoire said she was urged by some of the bill’s supporters to assert state’s rights, because Washington voters legalized marijuana for medical uses in 1998. But marijuana remains illegal for all uses under federal law, she said.
“State law does not trump federal law,” she said. “Is it a state right to violate federal law? Is it a state right to put state employees at risk?”
Gregoire based her decision in large part on a letter from U.S. Attorneys Mike Ormsby in Spokane and Jenny Durkan in Seattle, who said state employees could face prosecution under federal statutes for any involvement with marijuana. The bill called for the state Department of Agriculture to license growing and processing operations, and the Department of Health to determine the number of dispensaries in a county and regulate them.
Greg Devereaux, executive director of the Washington State Federation of Employees, sent a letter Friday urging her to veto the bill to protect state workers. Hugh Spitzer, a University of Washington law professor and constitutional scholar, sent a letter Thursday urging her to sign the entire bill to prevent “bullying” by federal officials.
She declined to speculate on whether Thursday’s raids on dispensaries in Spokane were some signal from federal prosecutors. In the absence of state standards, cities would be free to craft local rules on medical marijuana, she said. They could also initiate their own crackdowns.
“I leave that to them. There is not unanimity” among cities on medical marijuana, she said. Currently, there is nothing in state law that says medical marijuana dispensaries are legal.
Medical marijuana patients can grow their own supplies or join with others in a cooperative growing arrangement under a section that remains after Gregoire’s selective veto.
Although the special session is supposed to focus on budget issues, Gregoire wouldn’t object if the Legislature made another run at a medical marijuana bill and brought her new legislation. The best solution for the clash between the states and federal government over medical marijuana may lay in a change to federal law, she said. States that have medical marijuana laws should work to have the federal government move the drug from Schedule 1, which makes it illegal for all uses, to Schedule 2 drug, which would allow some legal applications.
Shankar Narayan of the American Civil Liberties Union said he considered some of Gregoire’s arguments about putting state employees at risk “specious.” A change in federal law could take months or years, time that patients and dispensaries don’t have, he added.
Vetoing the bill means marijuana remains legal for some medical patients but no laws spell out legal ways to obtain it, he said. Right now, the state has some shady dispensary operations and others that are doing their best to be legitimate businesses.
“Without a law, you can’t tell which is which,” Narayan said.
Supermajority for taxes unconstitutional, judge rules 
cdabornandraised on April 29 at 3:28 p.m.
State AGs are supposed to follow state laws… not federal. The woman who vetoed this bill will not be returning to office. The will of the people will be heard by state and federal government, or those governments powers will be revoked. This country makes me sick, I am about to renounce my United States Citizenship. ps. The United States is a Federal Corporation, of which you subject to and under jurisdiction of if you are a citizen. We live in a corporation, not a country….this is fact. The corporation of which we are slaves to is not subject to the Constitution of the United States of America, but the Uniform Commercial Code! Cannabis kills no one … the corporation’s War on Drugs does.
TITLE 28 > PART VI > CHAPTER 176 > SUBCHAPTER A > § 3002
§ 3002. Definitions
(15) “United States” means—
(A) a Federal corporation;
(B) an agency, department, commission, board, or other entity of the United States; or
(C) an instrumentality of the United States.
hunternomore on April 29 at 3:36 p.m.
They have to keep making it illegal. That way we get to have higher crime, drug cartels, ruined forests, gangs, etc. etc. etc.
tinman on April 29 at 3:47 p.m.
We need to show her the door!!! She doesn’t represent the people of Washington as this veto clearly shows!! VOTE HER OUT!
John_Fever_Richmond on April 29 at 3:51 p.m.
Yeah - this rocks!!! My Mexican drug cartel friends who bring my meth up here to Spokanistan need to make some more room for weed!!! They were starting to get bummed-out about Spokane no longer needing them to bring weed up here - looks like those days are over with!!!
MrNatural on April 29 at 3:59 p.m.
When I woke up this morning, things were lookin’ bad
Seem like total silence was the only friend I had
Bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down… and won
And it was twelve o’clock before I realized
That I was havin’ .. no fun
But fortunately I have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don’t cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone
No I’m just tryin’ to have me some fun
Last time I checked my bankroll,
It was gettin’ thin
Sometimes it seems like the bottom
Is the only place I’ve been
I Chased a rainbow down a one-way street… dead end
And all my friends turned out to be insurance salesmen
But fortunately I have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don’t cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone
No I’m just tryin’ to have me some fun
Well, I sat down in my closet with all my overalls
Tryin’ to get away
From all the ears inside my walls
I dreamed the police heard
Everything I thought… what then?
Well I went to court
And the judge’s name was Hoffman
Ah but fortunately I have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don’t cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone
No I’m just tryin’ to have me some fun
Well done, hot dog bun, my sister’s a nun
maria on April 29 at 5:10 p.m.
Where’s “Gramma” to protest this calamity?!?
detroitdude on April 29 at 5:28 p.m.
Wow, so in effect nothing really got accomplished. Legalize and tax people!
lowtechmaster on April 29 at 6:13 p.m.
Those—federal, state, or local— who oppose medical marijuana for legitimate, documented cases should be forced to walk in their footsteps somehow. It DOES help!!
keithj on April 29 at 6:27 p.m.
Dispensaries are a recent phenomenon. Patients who don’t have a green thumb, or whose landlord won’t tolerate growing, could under the old law hire someone to grow pot for them. Without dispensaries we just need an efficient means of connecting patients with non-commercial growers. Perhaps Craigslist.
misjustice on April 29 at 6:33 p.m.
That’s okay, I’ll still light up. Been smokin’ since I was 14, love it, won’t quit, will smoke it till the day I die. No gubmint is gonna stop me; I’ll just do it the old fashioned way, illegally. I don’t even pretend to be a medical maryjane patient; I just like the stuff. Although it does ease the pain in the foot that I broke years ago…
Keep it lit!
; )
nitro71 on April 29 at 6:49 p.m.
We all know how important dope is to most spokomptanites. Take away their dope and you’ll have a riot.
D Statler on April 29 at 8:07 p.m.
This is a great excuse for Spokane’s drug task force to skim some extra dope and confiscate some extra cash and property. Then they can misappropriate the money again.Probably not gonna have much luck passing out weed for info. They will still need some crack or meth to pass out for that info. Blaming this on the Feds is an insult. Like the Federal Marshals would mess with this trivial junk.This is all Spokane’s doings :^( This is where our tax dollars are being spent.What a great place to live!
deacon46 on April 29 at 8:27 p.m.
Protect State workers but ignore the will of the voters. Legal opinioins don’t count when unions are involved. Where is her backbone. Federal law can only replace state law if it is interstate commerce or involves people licensed in some fashion by the feds. Not going to change anything unless one fights. Give her a voters mandate and she thinks more about state secure and well off employees. Time to vote her out.
Dazzeetrader11 on April 29 at 9:45 p.m.
the majority of vvoters don’t want legalization.
State workers look stoned all the time anyway.They don’t move.
Go Chris!!
Ed Byrnes on April 29 at 10:42 p.m.
Given that most pols that are done with sound scientific sampling procedures show not much of a majority either way once one considers confidence intervals and margins of error only those with no understanding of rudimentary statistics would assert to know what “the majority” wants. Not understanding such things is a failure of our K-12 and higher educational systems, not an individual shortcoming.
The trend over the past decade points to a growing number of adults supporting legalization and a shrinking number supporting the status quo on this issue. It is really only a matter of time, though I continue to make my efforts toward legalization to hasten the process.
The thing that many don’t realize is that millions of adults use cannabis recreationally, and among our ranks are people from all educational and vocational statuses, political persuasions, economic classes, veteran statuses and ethnicity - the demographic reflects the whole country. Frankly most of us are really done with hiding (applause for MisJ here).
Reason will prevail on this one.
For the moment I am going to get irie before I sleep…there will be good skiing in the morning.
Ed
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on April 29 at 11:14 p.m.
Haha, the Stranger (the Seattle alternative paper) has installed a Gregoire Countdown at the top of their blog page:
http://slog.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/?hp
Informative, if you’re interested in knowing exactly how much time she has left in office.
Dazzeetrader11 on April 30 at 12:30 a.m.
I hope it’s over something worthwhile that.
This thread isn’t worth much.
dataxman on April 30 at 6:08 a.m.
Legalize and tax is in a familiar refrain from the pro-pot crowd. How do you propose to tax something that can be grown cheaply? If it is going to raise the revenue the pro-pot crowd claims, then the tax rate will have to be fairly high or the entire state will have to light up. If the taxes are high, people will grow their own.
detroitdude on April 30 at 6:16 a.m.
@dataxman: Most people who would buy it would not want to take the time to grow it, it could be taxed just like we do with liquor, in fact, it could also be sold in state controlled liquor stores. If someone did decide to grow it and take the time then they would be more than welcome to. Much the same as if you want to brew your own beer or make your own wine, it can also be done rather cheaply with a small investment at a brew and grow shop. Also, because I favor it being legalized and taxed, that does not mean that it’s going to be a Godsend when it comes to revenue necessarily either, but it can’t hurt, right?
detroitdude on April 30 at 6:37 a.m.
Also, in regards to my above post, it is also rather inexpensive for a company to manufacture alcoholic beverages. The bottling and packaging actually cost more than the raw materials of alcohol production do.
Byrdie714 on April 30 at 6:43 a.m.
It’s no suprise coming from the governor.
hamrsrscarry on April 30 at 10:14 a.m.
i think it’s awesome how the state employee unions and feds worked together to give the Governor what she needed to do this.
Wonder what WFSE was promised. Wonder how their members with chronic disabilities gained from being the victims of assaults in state institutions, or exposure to toxic chemicals, etc and are now running out of rx’s to manage pain, nausea, anorexia, feel about their union leadership.
Promises,promises.
empyrius on April 30 at 10:17 a.m.
You see . . .
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/apr/30/pot-bill-ted-down/
bez233 on April 30 at 10:32 a.m.
The question here needs to be why are the feds so paranoid and fearful of cannabis?
Cannabis isn’t hazardous to ones health as is booze for instance. Booze kills thousands in Washington State every year, including some 500 kids that the state proudly informed us of during the last election. Some even go as far as to use booze medicinally, but one doesn’t need a card to purchase it. The “law” states that booze shouldn’t be served with kids in the area, yet there are abusive drunks at the fair and hockey games. RCW 66.44.316 states that the legislature actually encourages drinking at universities. Alcohol is a poison (alcohol poisoning) and in RCW69.40.030 states it is a FELONY to place poison in food or drink but I don’t see any feds closing down any booze dens. It is also illegal for extortion, embezzlement, fraud, misappropriation of funds, but I do not see the feds running into Olympia or D.C. closing them down. This entire subject has been blown out of proportion and there are those sheeple who believe “them”. It is just too much hypocrisy.
Interestingly enough cannabis helped make this country great; read the constitution – it is written on hemp, cannabis is also considered a miracle crop, and was illegal not to grow it, until the prohibition was placed on it in the late1930’s when oil companies DEMANDED the Feds to take cannabis out of their competition.
Lifetree on April 30 at 10:32 a.m.
Goodbye Ms. Gregoire.
ManleyPointer on April 30 at 1:36 p.m.
What a display of political courage by The People’s Governor! Pfffft.
lovetheissues on May 02 at 1:05 p.m.
Chris is a smart girl, setting her and her workers up for a lawsuit is pure trouble. Good move girl!