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June 22, 2011 in News, Legal
Group files initiative to legalize marijuana use
SEATTLE — A new push to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Washington state is carefully calibrated to what voters will support — and to what will keep state workers from getting into trouble with federal agents, activists said today after filing the initiative.
The measure, backed by former Seattle U.S. Attorney John McKay, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes and travel-guide entrepreneur Rick Steves, calls for legalizing up to an ounce of pot to be sold and taxed at state-licensed stores.
The money would bring in at least $215 million a year in taxes, which would largely be earmarked for drug treatment and education, while eroding the black market that fuels drug-related crime in the state, supporters said.
The group, New Approach Washington, must collect 241,000 valid signatures by the end of this year to send the initiative to the Legislature, which can pass it outright or allow it to go to a public vote on the November 2012 ballot.
“I’m so excited Washington can take the lead in helping our country out of this wrong-minded, very costly war on marijuana,” Steves said during a news conference at the Seattle Public Library. He insisted that virtually everyone who wants to smoke marijuana already does, so there’s no reason not to legalize and tax it.
More than 8,200 people in Washington were arrested for simple marijuana possession in 2008, and their arrests, prosecutions and imprisonment cost the state millions of dollars, the organization said.
Washington is one of at least three states, along with California and Colorado, expected to consider marijuana legalization next year, said Morgan Fox, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Washington initiative might draw organized opposition.
Jamie Daniels, executive director of the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, said her group opposes marijuana legalization generally but has not taken a position on the initiative.
“Marijuana does impair the senses,” she said. “It impairs people’s logical thinking functions so they do things that law enforcement officers don’t like.”
She also suggested it is a gateway to harder drugs — a theory Steves dismissed by saying the only reason marijuana might be a gateway drug is because of prohibition itself: People must get their pot from drug dealers, who sometimes have a profit motive for getting them hooked on harder stuff.
Previous legalization efforts have failed in Washington and other states, including California last year. In Washington, another group, Sensible Washington, is trying this year for a second time to collect enough signatures in support of a far broader measure — one that would simply remove all state criminal and civil penalties for marijuana use, sale and possession.
New Approach Washington’s campaign manager, Alison Holcomb, said that effort is too sweeping to win popular support. She said she and others in her organization have been closely monitoring public opinion about marijuana for years, and they crafted their new proposal accordingly. For example, the measure would not allow people to grow their own marijuana for recreational purposes; polls suggest that people remain uneasy with the notion that marijuana gardens could proliferate in their neighborhoods, she said.
Under the bill it also would remain illegal for a consumer to give or sell marijuana to someone else. Pot could be possessed only by people 21 and older, and marijuana would be defined as cannabis that contains a certain minimum level of the active ingredient THC — possibly clearing the way for industrial hemp production down the road, Holcomb said.
Earlier this year, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed legislation that would have created a state system for licensing medical marijuana dispensaries over concern that it would require state workers to violate the federal Controlled Substances Act by inspecting marijuana grow operations, among other things.
New Approach’s legislation would avoid that problem by requiring state workers to license grow operations or marijuana stores without actively participating in violations of federal law, Holcomb said.
Polling suggests that a narrow majority of Washington voters would support the initiative, Holcomb said.
“We’re going to try something that’s a very controlled experiment,” she said. “It’s important that we end prohibition in 2012, not that we get it perfect.”
© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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IHike4Fun on June 22 at 2:44 p.m.
Didn’t they do this in Alaska and later have to repeal it because of the steep increase in crime?
hawken on June 22 at 2:58 p.m.
Same article, second day…..
So what’s the plan? State run Marijuana stores like we have state run liquor stores?
And then, we need a new “Department of Marijuana Control.” With all the brick and mortar facilities, the clerical staff, administrative staff, licensing staff, inspection staff, enforcement officers…. all of whom are members of public employee unions along with those excellent salaries, health care and retirement programs,,,, all paid for by the taxpayer.
Then, who is going to grow all of the legal marijuana? Or, we could just sit up direct lines with the Mexican Cartels and buy direct. But then, we would have shipping costs. And since, Marijuana would still be illegal under federal law, WA would have to smuggle in the marijuana from the Mexicans.
Or, we could pay Washington farmers a subsidy to grow Marijuana. But they would have to have armed guards to guard their fields at night to keep all of the pot heads from raiding their fields.
Smoking marijuana is far more dangerous than smoking cigarettes, according to a group of scientists in New Zealand. One joint = 1 pack of cigarettes a day.
And since Marijuana is more harmful to smoke than cigarettes, we could add another, special provision to Obamacare that gives special coverage to Marijuana smokers. Strike that,,,, Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level.
I can see why this guy was fired by Bush.
_______________________________________
Findings of the American Lung Association concerning Marijuana:
According to the American Lung Association, marijuana smoke contains a higher amount of carcinogens than tobacco smoke and over time its use can lead to cognitive impairment and organ damage.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/202632-medical-marijuana-alternatives/#ixzz1Py1AHFNW
So,,,, for all of you Obamacare supporters,,, who do you think is going to pay for the increased cases and costs of lung cancer, cognitive impairment and organ damage, for Marijuana smokers???? Right! The American taxpayer.
___________________________________________
According to the American Lung Association:
“…over time its [Marijuana] use can lead to cognitive impairment and organ damage.
So lets review:
1- Alcohol over time can cause liver damage.
2- Marijuana over time can cause organ damage and lung cancer.
3- Smoking one joint of Marijuana is the equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.
And some want us to believe that Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol
hawken on June 22 at 3:06 p.m.
Benefits of Alcohol. Other studies conclude the same benefits come from the use of other forms of alcoholic beverages.
WHS on June 22 at 3:26 p.m.
At the core of extreme narcissism is egotistical preoccupation with self, personal preferences, aspirations, needs, success, and how he/she is perceived by others…
Narcissism, in lay terms, basically means that a person is totally absorbed in self. The extreme narcissist is the center of his own universe.
Just saying…
WHS
BuRgEoNyT on June 22 at 3:59 p.m.
It doesn’t really matter if someone wants to huff Krylon from a paper bag or enjoy a nice blunt rolled from a plant that was on this planet thousands of years before Hawken was born……the point is that we don’t need big government ninnies dictating to others what they can or can not put into their own bodies backed up by the lethal force of the state.
If you have no problem mandating what others should be able to ingest or inhale; then you really need to shut your mouth when they want to force you to pay for abortions or control what guns you can own. At least just pick an position where you aren’t arguing against your own logic on what inanimate objects need to be banned or not.
Good luck with this bill though as there are three major opponents with lots of bucks: The radical Christian right, big government, and the big drug cartels (aka CIA, police sponsored cartels, US Army growing junk in Afghanistan). Funny how all three can come together for a ‘common’ cause….
greenlibertarian on June 22 at 7:09 p.m.
I gave my spiel on this last night. Point is the handwriting is on the wall, it’s only a matter of time and hashing out some details, pun intended.
The ignorant who think prohibition of marijuana will last forever are utterly ignorant.
Oh yeah, and one of THE MOST conservative members of the House, along with a liberal, are introducing legislation to remove the asinine federal prohibition on marijuana, altho it has at best a weak chance of passing.
Like I said tho, just a matter of time. Even having debate in the Congress about this would be a major success.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/06/ron-paul-barney-frank-to-jointly-introduce-a-bill-to-end-federal-war-on-marijuana.html
REASON is a Libertarian think-tank.
And again, please don’t feed the trolls.
Bee509 on June 23 at 1:53 a.m.
Is the ANTI crowd desperately clinging to prohibition merely due to the risk of “smoking” cannabis? There doesn’t seem to be any solid argument against ending prohibition. I’d much rather see a Ma & Pa grow operation down the street paying taxes. Rather than stumbling upon one out in the national forest shipping it’s profits south of the border.
And to think some have said said Mary Jane causes cancer? What slanderish little devils you are.
Also, there is the edible route… I don’t believe there is a risk of lung cancer or organ damage due to some gold ol fashioned pot brownies. Want one hawken? I won’t tell anybody, I swear.
Of course in addition to the strict conditions medical marijuana laws cover already, here are a few more.
Oh yeah but it rots your brain! Or not… I’ve heard the theory that consumption doesn’t kill cells it only “clouds” them, meaning any said damage is reversible by not using it for a period of time, but don’t take my word for it.
Now that, compared with Alcohol…
With long-term use alcohol may damage the connection between nerve cells and cause irreversible brain damage, including memory loss, and personality changes. Of course not to mention all the other really, really bad stuff.