Washington (US)
Marijuana initiative backers say state could lead change
By Lynn Thompson (Seattle Times)
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Former Seattle U.S. attorney pushes pot legalization
By Gene Johnson (AP)
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Marijuana initiative backers say state could lead change
By Lynn Thompson (Seattle Times)
Washington state would be defying federal drug laws if an initiative filed Wednesday with the Secretary of State to legalize and regulate marijuana is adopted.
But backers said Wednesday that states can take the lead in ending what they call the nation's failed war on drugs, much as individual states, including Washington, repealed Prohibition before the federal government.
"If people at the state and other states in this country say we're ready to try a rational approach to marijuana laws, the federal government has to take notice," said campaign director Alison Holcomb, who is taking a leave from her job as drug policy director at ACLU Washington.
Several of the initiative's backers, including Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, travel guide Rick Steves and former Washington State Bar Association President Mark Johnson, held a news conference Wednesday at the Seattle Public Library to kick off the campaign.
The New Approach Washington initiative would legalize and regulate recreational marijuana use, much as the state regulates alcohol.
Organizers say they hope to take advantage of their high-profile backers — who include former U.S. Attorney John McKay — and an aggressive fundraising campaign to collect the needed signatures.
The campaign will use paid signature gatherers, as well as volunteers, Holcomb said.
New Approach Washington will have until Dec. 30 to gather 241,153 signatures to put the issue before the Legislature. Lawmakers then could approve the measure or send it to voters.
Holcomb said polling showed about 53 percent of state voters favored legalizing and regulating marijuana.
Holmes said murders by Mexican drug cartels now number almost 38,000 and that 60 percent of drug-cartel profits come from marijuana sales in the U.S.
"We're complicit in those 38,000 murders. That's what prohibition has done," Holmes said.
Under the initiative, distribution to adults age 21 and up would be through state-licensed marijuana-only stores; production and distribution would be licensed and regulated by the state Liquor Control Board; and strict rules would be adopted for advertising, store location and license eligibility.
The law would limit personal possession to one ounce of dried bud. It would still be a crime to grow or deliver even a small amount of marijuana, except by licensed producers or stores.
Another initiative campaign — to remove all state criminal and civil penalties for marijuana use, possession and cultivation — is already under way.
Its chairman, Douglas Hiatt, criticized New Approach Washington for not seeking "meaningful reform."
His Sensible Washington campaign has collected only about 100,000 of the 241,153 signatures required. To qualify for the November ballot, signatures must be delivered to the Secretary of State by July 8.
No state has legalized marijuana for recreational use in such a way, although some have decriminalized it.
Taxes on the sales and distribution of marijuana would generate $215 million in state revenue per year, sponsors of the new initiative say, with roughly $40 million going to the state general fund and $175 million to drug education and public health.
But backers said Wednesday that states can take the lead in ending what they call the nation's failed war on drugs, much as individual states, including Washington, repealed Prohibition before the federal government.
"If people at the state and other states in this country say we're ready to try a rational approach to marijuana laws, the federal government has to take notice," said campaign director Alison Holcomb, who is taking a leave from her job as drug policy director at ACLU Washington.
Several of the initiative's backers, including Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, travel guide Rick Steves and former Washington State Bar Association President Mark Johnson, held a news conference Wednesday at the Seattle Public Library to kick off the campaign.
The New Approach Washington initiative would legalize and regulate recreational marijuana use, much as the state regulates alcohol.
Organizers say they hope to take advantage of their high-profile backers — who include former U.S. Attorney John McKay — and an aggressive fundraising campaign to collect the needed signatures.
The campaign will use paid signature gatherers, as well as volunteers, Holcomb said.
New Approach Washington will have until Dec. 30 to gather 241,153 signatures to put the issue before the Legislature. Lawmakers then could approve the measure or send it to voters.
Holcomb said polling showed about 53 percent of state voters favored legalizing and regulating marijuana.
Holmes said murders by Mexican drug cartels now number almost 38,000 and that 60 percent of drug-cartel profits come from marijuana sales in the U.S.
"We're complicit in those 38,000 murders. That's what prohibition has done," Holmes said.
Under the initiative, distribution to adults age 21 and up would be through state-licensed marijuana-only stores; production and distribution would be licensed and regulated by the state Liquor Control Board; and strict rules would be adopted for advertising, store location and license eligibility.
The law would limit personal possession to one ounce of dried bud. It would still be a crime to grow or deliver even a small amount of marijuana, except by licensed producers or stores.
Another initiative campaign — to remove all state criminal and civil penalties for marijuana use, possession and cultivation — is already under way.
Its chairman, Douglas Hiatt, criticized New Approach Washington for not seeking "meaningful reform."
His Sensible Washington campaign has collected only about 100,000 of the 241,153 signatures required. To qualify for the November ballot, signatures must be delivered to the Secretary of State by July 8.
No state has legalized marijuana for recreational use in such a way, although some have decriminalized it.
Taxes on the sales and distribution of marijuana would generate $215 million in state revenue per year, sponsors of the new initiative say, with roughly $40 million going to the state general fund and $175 million to drug education and public health.
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Former Seattle U.S. attorney pushes pot legalization
By Gene Johnson (AP)
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 and tax 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 line 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 American Civil Liberties Union of Washington in 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 "standalone 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.
Activists would have until the end of this year to gather more than 240,000 signatures to get the initiative before the Legislature. Lawmakers will have a chance to approve it or allow it to go to the ballot.
Taxing marijuana sales would bring the state $215 million a year, conservatively estimated, Holmes said.
In a telephone interview from Idaho, where he was about to leave on a six-day rafting trip on the Salmon River, McKay said he has long considered marijuana prohibition a failed policy, but that as U.S. attorney his job was to enforce federal law, and he had no problem doing so. Among the people he prosecuted was Canada's so-called "Prince of Pot," Marc Emery, who fought extradition after his 2005 arrest but eventually was sentenced to five years in prison for selling millions of marijuana seeds to U.S. residents.
"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."
Holmes said McKay's involvement in the legalization effort helps demonstrate its sensibility.
"Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, in law enforcement or a medical provider, you look at the data and you come to the same conclusion: The war on drugs has failed," he said.
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 line 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 American Civil Liberties Union of Washington in 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 "standalone 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.
Activists would have until the end of this year to gather more than 240,000 signatures to get the initiative before the Legislature. Lawmakers will have a chance to approve it or allow it to go to the ballot.
Taxing marijuana sales would bring the state $215 million a year, conservatively estimated, Holmes said.
In a telephone interview from Idaho, where he was about to leave on a six-day rafting trip on the Salmon River, McKay said he has long considered marijuana prohibition a failed policy, but that as U.S. attorney his job was to enforce federal law, and he had no problem doing so. Among the people he prosecuted was Canada's so-called "Prince of Pot," Marc Emery, who fought extradition after his 2005 arrest but eventually was sentenced to five years in prison for selling millions of marijuana seeds to U.S. residents.
"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."
Holmes said McKay's involvement in the legalization effort helps demonstrate its sensibility.
"Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, in law enforcement or a medical provider, you look at the data and you come to the same conclusion: The war on drugs has failed," he said.
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