Ex-U.S. attorney backs pot measure

SEATTLE – A man who once served as the Justice Department’s top official in Seattle said Tuesday that he is sponsoring an initiative to legalize possession of up to an ounce of dried marijuana in Washington state, a measure he hopes will help “shame Congress” into ending pot prohibition.

John McKay spent five years enforcing federal drug laws as the U.S. attorney in Seattle before he was fired by the Bush administration in early 2007. He told the Associated Press on Tuesday that laws criminalizing marijuana are wrongheaded because they create an enormous black market exploited by international cartels and crime rings.

“That’s what drives my concern: The black market fuels the cartels, and that’s what allows them to buy the guns they use to kill people,” McKay said. “A lot of Americans smoke pot and they’re willing to pay for it. I think prohibition is a dumb policy, and there are a lot of fine federal prosecutors who share the view that the policy is suspect.”

McKay is joining Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, travel guide Rick Steves and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union in forming a group called New Approach Washington. They’re pushing an initiative to the Legislature that would regulate the recreational use of marijuana in a way similar to how the state regulates alcohol. Their bill would legalize marijuana for people over 21, authorize the Liquor Control Board to regulate and tax marijuana for sale in “stand-alone stores,” and extend drunken driving laws to marijuana, with blood tests to determine how much of pot’s active ingredient is present in a driver’s blood.

No state has yet legalized marijuana for recreational purposes in such a way, though some have decriminalized it, and the initiative would put Washington squarely at odds with federal law banning the drug.

The legislation would set limits on how much cannabis people can have: an ounce of dried bud, 16 ounces of marijuana-infused foods in solid form, and 72 ounces of marijuana-infused liquids, or all three, said Alison Holcomb, drug policy director of the ACLU of Washington. The limits are necessary to help ensure that people don’t buy large amounts for resale in other states, she said.

The bill would not allow for the recreational growing of marijuana; it would be up to the state’s Liquor Control Board to license grow operations and set limits for how large they can be. The measure would not affect the rights of medical marijuana patients in Washington, who are allowed to have at least 24 ounces and 15 plants, and more if needed.

Activists would have until the end of this year to gather more than 240,000 signatures to get the initiative before the Legislature. Taxing marijuana sales would bring the state $215 million a year, conservatively estimated, Holmes said.

In a telephone interview, McKay said he has long considered marijuana prohibition a failed policy, but that as U.S. attorney his job was to enforce federal law.

“When you look at alcohol prohibition, it took the states to say, ‘This policy is wrong,’ ” McKay said. “This bill might not be perfect, but it’s a good step forward. I think it will eventually shame Congress into action.”