Spokane7
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January 27, 2012 in City
Lawmakers to consider pot initiative
OLYMPIA — A measure that would decriminalize use and possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults was sent to the Legislature today after the Secretary of State’s office certified it has more than enough signatures.
Initiative 502 had a slightly higher than normal error rate on the signatures checked, but has more than the required 241,153 signatures needed, the elections office concluded.
That means the Legislature has three options on decriminalizing marijuana:
Pass the initiative as written, and let it become law; reject the initiative, which would put it on the November ballot; pass an alternative bill decriminalizing marijuana, which would put the initiative and the alternative on the November ballot.
Initiatives to the Legislature are somewhat rarer than initiatives to the people. The last successful initiative to the Legislature, the Secretary of State’s office reported, was in 2004, and dealt with nuclear waste.
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therailroader on January 27 at 2:30 p.m.
About time ~ stop wasting precious tax payer dollars on such frivilous matters. The Baby boom generation is in their 50s & older & should know better than to let this criminalization nonsense continue.
greenlibertarian on January 27 at 2:36 p.m.
Keep chipping away at it somehow.
Right now, there appears, no, there exists, a gigantic difference between how, for example, the medical marijuana patient, doctor, and provider is treated by the law in King County (open, above-board, well organized and (mostly self, co-op) regulated with obvious support of law enforcement, and then most of the rest of the state, medical marijuana driven underground, law enforcement shutting down dispensaries and prosecuting medical marijuana growers.
That’s not equal protection under the law. Legitimate medical marijuana patients in eastern WA have no legal or quasi-legal means to procure necessary medicine as provided for in WA State law, by the will of the people.
This needs to get sorted out properly.
idahocity on January 27 at 2:47 p.m.
i don’t use pot. i drink double and triple i.p.a. “pot” should be legal like beer. people should be able to homegrow like i hombrew. my friends who get high seem to be less impaired than me when we are indulging in our drug of choice.
mikeln on January 27 at 2:53 p.m.
At least this leaves no way out for government, do the right thing and decriminalize the weed or let us vote to decriminalze it. Maybe this will get the federal government off it’s fat, lazy butt and pass laws that quit throwing people in jail. After all, the weed was really made illegal to protect the cotten industry (monsanto) and the hearst paper industry. 20 million americans jailed for what? It sure as hell didn’t make us safer and led to the creation of the private prison system which made us less safe. One thing it does show however is that the government will not admit to being wrong, ever.
Loudin on January 27 at 2:58 p.m.
Aw yeah, something else that would Spokane even more Spokomptony.
That said, I’m for legalization, but I’m not so sure that is in our city’s best interest. Don’t we already have enough 20-something DB’s running around w/a weed issue? Maybe if they taxed the crap out of it so that you had to have a decent job to buy it…you know, would help eliminate the scuzy-user demographic. I’d be okay that: Lord knows we have enough unemployed young men w/too many tats, not enough education and parka/shorts winter ensembles.
But again: We got much bigger problems here than weed legalization. Healthcare, education, lack of civic pride, dead-end jobs, killer cops, etc. Anybody that thinks weed is more important those issues is probably a blindly partisan toker.
Loudin
Spokanewaste on January 27 at 3:02 p.m.
Allow it and tax it. Just like cigarettes. Call it an idiot tax.
westerly on January 27 at 4:14 p.m.
..Loudin..
good reading here
http://inlandnw.wordpress.com/about/
zelda on January 27 at 4:19 p.m.
The MJ trafficking in Spokane and E. Washington is so prevalent that it rated its own chapter in “McMafia,” a book by Misha Glenny published in 2008 by Alfred A. Knopf (a division of Random House). Check out pages 211 to 220. Or look up “BC Bud” in the index.
This was published shortly before the housing and stock market crash in 2008, so now that people who had legitimate, high-paying jobs here are mostly unemployed, the seedy underpinnings of Spokane’s economy are right out in the open.
In my neighborhood I get to watch the local dealer drive by every 10 minutes as he makes his ‘round-the-clock deliveries in his brand-new Cadillac. My only lingering question is how he launders the money. I mean you typically don’t get a W-2 when you list your job as “Drug Dealer.”
I think it’s futile to keep battling against a substance that involves no processing and can be easily grown as a crop. But I agree with Loudin — I don’t like the scuzzy demographic associated w/it and Spokane has more than its fair share of low-lifes and hustlers as it is.
Can you imagine what might happen if it’s legalized? WalMart or Costco will corner the market and all the mom-and-pops will be offed by corporate goons that work for Blackwater or Xe or whatever its current name is.The consequences — unintended and intended — will be staggering.
tfs1969 on January 27 at 4:23 p.m.
I’ve seen more d-baggery due to alcohol. I also see the ravaging effects of alcoholism on families.
Cigarettes are 10 times as addicitive, are proven killers, and are totally legal.
Sure, some people can’t handle marijuana, and end up being losers and dbags who sit around all day with no job, etc. Even if pot had never been cultivated, these same folks would be sitting around being lazy slobs.
I also worked at Microsoft for over 10 years on an elite team, and some of these same hardworking geniuses who revolutionized the world of software also smoked on a daily basis.
It’s all about personal choices - the medical argument has unfortunately delegitimized the underlying issue - it’s an issue of civil liberties, and its about time to quit wasting time and law enforcement energy keeping this benign substance under wraps.
Quit the BS - legalize it…
RedCedar on January 27 at 4:46 p.m.
At least now I know why Windoze/Office is such an incomprehensible tangle of bloatware that spend more CPU cycles playing with itself than doing the user’s work.
greenlib, your points are right on, but mj is never going to get sorted out properly until prohibition is repealed by the feds. The way it stands now, the President can tell the federal prosecutors to make small-time mj busts a low priority, but as long as it’s a serious federal offense, various people in power can use it selectively against political enemies or when trying to score political points. Imaging if the Volstead Act was still in force, but rarely enforced, except when somebody important felt like it. Criticize the police guild? We’ll raid your tavern. Rarely-enforced laws create the perfect environment for corruption, blackmail, and shakedowns.
Washington can repeal all its drug laws, but the situation will still be a mess until the feds do likewise.
Loudin on January 27 at 5:20 p.m.
I love how you always get these stupid arguments from FTS1969:
Weed is great, alcohol/cigs bad…legalize it. ‘Nuff said…
Actually, weed, alcohol and cigs are all for DB’s. Spokane would be a much less douchey place if people ditched those crutches and concentrated on what matters: Getting educated, getting a decent house, putting your family before yourself and having a real plan for the future.
The truth is: In Spokane (not Redmond), there are thousands of 20/30/40-something white trash losers using weed on a daily basis and they’re a drag on all of us. They’re not programmers, they’re not lawyers, they’re not doctors: They’re people going no place with kids on assistance, credit in the toilet and a bleak future. FTS is probably in denial about that because his/her love of weed makes for rose-colored glasses, but the fact is we have way too many lower-income citizens pissin’ their lives away w/booze and weed.
Like I said before: If you think legalizing weed is the most important legislative issue we’re facing, you’re probably a blind partisan. This is Spokane…we have enough losers already.
Loudin
spokanecommunistparty on January 27 at 5:48 p.m.
Any fierce volley of weed smoking gets old pretty quick, sooner or later it gets really boring because its non addictive and expensive. I can’t drink alcohol because it burns my stomach and makes me sick. Weed doesn’t do anything bad except make you think about outer space. Therefore I support legalizing the pots. 420, this is the Evergreen State my friends and happy voting to you lawmakers!!
tfs1969 on January 27 at 5:58 p.m.
” I love how you always get these stupid arguments from FTS1969:”
Wow Loudin - you are already impaired - good thing you don’t smoke…
I’ve never posted on this subject before, so I don’t get your “always” statement.
The fact is, people who you would classify as “winners” go to jail, and have their rights taken from them because they get caught smoking pot. This is costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars in wasted enforcement efforts, not to mention lives in Mexico. If you legalized it, you would reclaim the money back and get added tax dollars - that seems like something important for the state government to consider.
At the same time, our tax dollars go towards “fixing” the problems already on our hands with cancer ridden insurance cigarrette smokers, drinkers who kill families after getting loaded and try to drive home, etc.
I know a lot of smokers in Spokane - they all have jobs, they all work hard, and they don’t fit your misconception of what a pot smoker looks or acts like. I know doctors, lawyers, and executives at Amazon and Microsoft who smoke pot.
I really could care less what the effects of legalization would be on the losers of Spokane - losers are losers, in my opinion…
Legalizing it will have 0 effect on low achievers who choose to smoke weed - they are already getting pot - it will just free up our law enforcement and border patrol from wasting time and money on “fixing” a non-problem…
This is also a libertarian rights and individual rights issue - if you want to drink a beer, or wear assanine looking wrestling gear, then I should be able to smoke a joint every now and then.
Red Cedar - LOL! There always have been a lot of idiots at Microsoft who have messed things up - part of the reason I left during Vista.. I also work on Linux, Unix, and Mac - they all suck in one way or another. Software is hard to get right - that’s why good programmers can demand such high salaries.
gmorton on January 27 at 5:59 p.m.
zelda wrote,
“WalMart or Costco will corner the market and all the mom-and-pops will be offed by corporate goons . . .”
How could Walmart corner the market for a product which, as you yourself pointed out, can be grown in your back yard?
Methinks you’re crediting Walmart with supernatural powers.
RedCedar is right, of course. Until you get the feds off that hobby horse, pot will continue to be a black market product, and thus by definition that demand will be met by underworld types.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on January 27 at 6:08 p.m.
Loudin, back when I use to sell pot, I use to sell to doctors, lawyers, teachers, grandma’s, grandpa’s, stay at home moms/dads, politicians and yes even a police officer (on a side note, its amazing how easy it is to beat a drug test, and this officer was of great help in that).
Not everyone who smokes pot, drinks or smokes a cigg is a DB like you think. Most do it to relax after a long day and most people who smoke pot you wouldn’t even know, looks are deceiving.
greenlibertarian on January 27 at 8:40 p.m.
At least now I know why Windoze/Office is such an incomprehensible tangle of bloatware that spend more CPU cycles playing with itself than doing the user’s work.
-RedCedar
LMAO!
Exactamundo.
I make this Windoze 2k FREE computer I got from what became of Packet Engines with it’s ancient hardware still work half-way decent ‘cause I know something about optimization.
Had to fix my daughter’s Win 7, 1-year old pink laptop a week ago or so, before GU started. She got some nasty virus on it, one that take’s a while and numerous quasi-DOS (my GOD!) programs have to be run with long command strings to clean the damn thing.
I look at the… must be millions of files stored on this thing… SYSTEM/Windoze files. I see the anti-malware or the anti-spyware or the anti-virus going thru ALL THESE FILES endlessly, it seems, including 5000 files for every different language in the freakin’ world, which is on here, why? Is ANYONE gonna use Tagalog soon? anybody?
I’m not that ancient, but I first did some machine language stuff (very primitive), then HP 2000 with Teletypes and papertapes, then CRTs with 300 baud modems (up from the 110) then DEC PDP-11’s, then back to the future with IBM 80 column 360 series utter crap. Apple, Atari, Commodore, CP/M machines, and then the 8086, 8088 POS’s (primitive operative systems).
I guess it’s better, but I have my doubts sometimes.
Once you learn that data tends to fill all available storage it’s incumbent upon you and your team to efficiently manage you’re p’s & q’s, errrr, storage requirements including archives and purges.
So many failed IT projects (managers), so little time.
But, I digress.
It’s going to take pressure from the states, and examples of reasonable marijuana policy working, to get ‘er done at the federal level.
terryalan on January 27 at 9:12 p.m.
But of course civil discourse on said topic will probably never have an effect on a poster such as loudin..
Geeze, judgmental much?
You really need to come down off your pedestal before you fall….
You seem incredibly close minded and judgmental….
Ed Byrnes on January 27 at 11:02 p.m.
Loudin:
You are making yourself appear to be a DB with your sweeping generalizations and stereotyping.
I hold a doctoral degree from a major research university and I am a tenured professor, academic program director and a private statistical consultant for two firms on the east coast. Additionally, I am an active father to two sons, an expert telemark skier and an avid bicyclist.
I also smoke cannabis twice a month when I go to see my friends’ band perform. I use a taxicab or get rides from friends for these outings.
Please do tell us of all your brilliant accomplishments and current activities so we can know who is calling us loser DBs. Also, if you wish to call us names at least have the integrity to use your real name rather than hiding.
Ed Byrnes
cozzster on January 27 at 11:10 p.m.
I tend to agree with Loudin…most people who do drugs are DBs. Sure there are “higher class” people who buy drugs, but let’s look at the majority of users. I know many people who fit the stereotype of sitting at home and doing nothing but getting high, not being productive members of society. I will never understand the argument “some people just need to relax from being stressed out.” How about you go exercise or find a hobby that doesn’t involve drugs. You are all just weak willed people if you have to resort to drugs to relax. You are no different than an obese person who wants a pill to get skinny instead of committing to a little hard work…you just want the easy way out.
I’ll end with this: I don’t believe in drugs because I see the all the violence and drug abuse that comes with them. Sure they can exist in a peaceful environment, but that’s few and far between. Don’t legalize MJ just cause someone cries about needing to be “pain free” or needs to “relax.”
Ed Byrnes on January 27 at 11:28 p.m.
@cozzster:
Just because two posters try to promulgate stereotypes does not make them true.
Did you totally miss that I am an expert skier and an avid cyclist?
Did you miss that I use cannabis twice a month?
You may surprised how many healthy, productive people use cannabis recreationally without it being a major part of their lives.
We just want the cops out or our private behavior.
Ed
liberal_in_right_wing_land on January 27 at 11:34 p.m.
Real republicans would be in favor of this.
cozzster on January 27 at 11:41 p.m.
Ed, man, I said most people who do drugs, not all. I realize they can exist, just few and far between. Even if it is private, it is illegal. A lot of child porn is private too.
JoeDaWg on January 28 at 9:02 a.m.
LONG overdue. What are we even talking about here? Here are more vile, deadly substances in very single medicine cabinet across America then marijuana. Peanuts kill more people every year then marijuana has in over 5000 years. I’m always a little suspicious of “medicine” that comes with annoying little side effects like “death”. The idea that a pharmacy can pump out enough “medicine” on a daily basis to kill a city full of people, yet a plant that is completely non toxic gets treated like its radioactive. We have wasted over 1.3 trillion dollars fighting this plant and guess what, the plant has won. Enough is enough. Give people a safe alternative to alcohol, give sick people a cheap medicine, give Americans the freedom to make their own choices. There really aren’t two sides to this discussion.
Ed Byrnes on January 28 at 7:29 p.m.
Comparing cannabis to child porn?
JimmyT on January 29 at 1:06 a.m.
Washington State Initiative Measure No. 502 (I-502) would license and regulate marijuana production, distribution, and possession for persons over twenty-one; remove state-law criminal and civil penalties for activities that it authorizes; tax marijuana sales; and earmark marijuana-related revenues.
,
This measure would remove state-law prohibitions against producing, processing, and selling marijuana, subject to licensing and regulation by the liquor control board; allow limited possession of marijuana by persons aged twenty-one and over; and impose 25% excise taxes on wholesale and retail sales of marijuana, earmarking revenue for purposes that include substance-abuse prevention, research, education, and healthcare. Laws prohibiting driving under the influence would be amended to include maximum thresholds for THC blood concentration.
,
New Approach Washington is a coalition of Washington citizens who believe that treating marijuana use as a crime has failed, and that it is time for a new approach. We include doctors, lawyers, treatment and prevention experts, business people, and parents. We are united in the belief that Washington should stop wasting law enforcement resources on adults who use marijuana, and instead create a tightly regulated system that generates tax revenue for our state and local governments.
JimmyT on January 29 at 1:09 a.m.
Washington State Initiative Measure No. 502 (I-502)
” because marijuana prohibition has failed and Congress and the legislature must act to eliminate the danger to public safety posed by the enormous American black market. Unless states act to regulate, control and decriminalize most uses of marijuana, Congress will continue to ignore the law enforcement danger and assert federal criminal laws that ill serve the public.”,
I-501 Sponsor former United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Seattle University professor of National Security Law and Constitutional Law, John McKay. He served as the chief federal law enforcement officer responsible for the prosecution of drug crimes, including marijuana smuggling, distribution and use. He has served as a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the F.B.I. Director, a Congressional Aide to the late Joel Pritchard (R-WA)
cozzster on January 31 at 5:45 a.m.
No, man, I’m saying just because it’s private, doesn’t mean it’s ok. There are a lot of private behaviors that break the law and should not be tolerated. Just because no one else knows about it doesn’t make it right.
Ed Byrnes on January 31 at 4:51 p.m.
There are also many laws that are inappropriately intrusive into our private behaviors. Just because they are laws doesn’t automatically make them just or right.
cozzster on January 31 at 10:53 p.m.
Lol inappropriately intrusive to the people who are breaking the law…of course. If you aren’t doing anything wrong according to the law, you have nothing to worry about. Typically I believe a law is a law for a good reason, not just cause someone wants to pry into private lives.
greenlibertarian on January 31 at 11:41 p.m.
cozzster on January 31 at 5:45 a.m.
No, man, I’m saying just because it’s private, doesn’t mean it’s ok. There are a lot of private behaviors that break the law and should not be tolerated. Just because no one else knows about it doesn’t make it right.
You appear a freak and your affliction doesn’t withstand Our Constitution in terms of right or wrong or none of your business. You’re banished, knave.
cozzster on February 01 at 2:01 a.m.
Lol, this isn’t the land of dungeons and dragons or world of warcraft, Leroy.
Ed Byrnes on February 01 at 1:41 p.m.
@cozzster:
It is your choice to have such strong faith in laws though understand that such faith is not universally shared by all and that not all of us are bad because of that.
Ed
cozzster on February 02 at 3:14 a.m.
Right, not saying you are bad. Just saying you are wrong.