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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Initiative 502

Election Results

Option Votes Pct
Yes 1,593,680 55.48%
No 1,279,005 44.52%

* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.

About The Measure

This measure 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.

Should this measure be enacted into law?

Complete Coverage

Pot leaving Washington is federal concern

OLYMPIA – State officials are trying to convince the federal government they can keep legally grown pot from making its way over the border to Oregon, Idaho or other states as they try to avoid a legal fight over the new marijuana law. “It is our responsibility to show the federal government we will be a responsible entity,” Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday.

Listen in on legalized marijuana forum

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Feds examining pot law, Inslee says

OLYMPIA – State officials appear to be hoping for the best while preparing for the worst as Washington and the federal government try to determine how the state will license and regulate legal marijuana. After a meeting in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee said the nation’s chief legal officer was open to learning more about the law voters passed and the state’s plans to make it work. There were no firm conclusions from their first meeting, Inslee said.

Spokane’s best slacker jobs

Worried about what you’re gonna do if those extended unemployment benefits ever run out? Options abound for the marginally skilled in Spokane. Some call them slacker jobs but you can call them non-traditional career paths if you want.

Legalized marijuana hearing set for Spokane

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Clark: State gets weeds of advice

Last November’s passage of High-502, the initiative legalizing marijuana for hacky sack and other recreational use, has motivated many Washington residents to give the state their cannabis crop suggestions. And just in time.

State getting growing list of pot tips

OLYMPIA – Washington residents have suggestions for how the state should write new rules to grow legal marijuana. Hundreds of them. Some want the state Liquor Control Board, which is trying to come up with those rules, to keep out the large corporations. Others want the board to limit the kinds of chemicals that could be used to fight off weeds, bugs or mold. Still others fear the taxes will be too high or regulations too restrictive and stub out a budding industry.

Spin Control: No decision yet on I-502 rally dust-up

OLYMPIA – Elections are designed to place a punctuation mark on political disputes. Sometimes it’s a period; other times, it’s more of comma, pausing to allow one to take a breath before the argument continues. That seems the case with Initiative 502, which as most of the world knows opens the door for adults to smoke marijuana in private. (Who among us hasn’t had a reprobate relative, old high school buddy or college roommate call to suggest they were planning a visit to, wink-wink, take in the air of democracy in the Evergreen State, or something equally prosaic?)

Sunday Spin: Leftover from the I-502 campaign

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City of Spokane mulling I-502 implementation

Spokane city leaders will meet today to begin planning for how to deal with businesses that want to sell state-sanctioned marijuana. City Council members will meet with the city of Spokane Plan Commission to map out priorities for the next year, Councilman Jon Snyder said. Part of that discussion will be how to deal with the voter-approved Initiative 502, which allows residents 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Medical marijuana dispenser’s conviction overturned

The drug-trafficking convictions of the man who operated Spokane’s first medical marijuana dispensary were reversed Tuesday in a state Appeals Court ruling that also appears to clear the way for commercial dispensaries to operate legally in Eastern Washington. While the case provides needed clarification in state law over how medical marijuana users can legally fill their prescriptions, U.S. Attorney Mike Ormsby said federal prosecutors will continue to target certain operations.

Appeals Court sides with pot dispensaries

The drug-trafficking convictions of the man who operated Spokane’s first medical marijuana dispensary were reversed today in a ruling that also appears to clear the way for commercial dispensaries to operate legally in Eastern Washington.

New marijuana law could cause problems on the Palouse

The college towns of Pullman and Moscow may only be separated by an eight-mile stretch of highway. But the divide between their states’ marijuana policies is becoming much wider. Today adult recreational marijuana use became legal in Washington, while it remains illegal in Idaho. Law enforcement officers worry it will lead to more marijuana crossing state lines in areas like the Palouse, where about 33,000 college students live. Transporting marijuana across state lines is a federal felony, but it’s unclear how – or if – the federal ban will be enforced.

Mapping the vote: Final count on I-502

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Q&A: Marijuana law takes effect Thursday

When the clock ticks past midnight tonight, Washington will have the most permissive law in the nation regarding marijuana, thanks to voters who approved Initiative 502. But the new law isn’t a blanket license for anyone to smoke marijuana anywhere, anytime. There are restrictions within the law, and some items that must still be settled, either by state agencies or the courts. Here are some answers to common questions about what changes in state marijuana laws Thursday.