420 Policies and Laws

[Premium Parrots]

Great posts and info Crow. Please let me take the liberties to predict..........

[Skell18]

Great posts and info Crow. Please let me take the liberties to predict..........

hahahahahahaha

[OregonNative]

Crow, my Cascadian brother, I really do hope it passes and gets legalized. If I was back home, I'd do my part and vote.

[Crow]

Thanks, bud! The gesture is greatly appreciated.

[Crow]

State could be test case in marijuana legalization

How would the federal government respond if Washington voters pass Initiative 502 and legalize recreational marijuana sales. Arrests of state-licensed marijuana growers? A big legal fight in federal court? Or would the feds leave the state alone?

By Jonathan Martin, Seattle Times

In the waning days of a campaign to legalize marijuana in California two years ago, all nine ex-directors of the Drug Enforcement Administration simultaneously urged Obama officials to come out in strong opposition.

The pressure worked: Attorney General Eric Holder declared his office would "vigorously enforce" the federal ban on marijuana "even if such activities are permitted under state law."

Whether that was a real threat or just posturing is unclear: California voters rejected Proposition 19.

The test case instead could be Washington, where voters on Nov. 6 will decide whether to directly confront the federal ban on marijuana and embrace a sprawling plan to legalize, regulate and tax sales at state-licensed pot stores.

Speculation on the potential federal blowback is rife.

Would the Obama administration pick a legal fight over states' rights to try to block Initiative 502? Would federal prosecutors charge marijuana growers and retailers, even if they are authorized by state law?

Or would — as some opponents and supporters predict — federal authorities denounce the law but largely leave Washington alone?

The Justice Department won't say. But legal and drug-policy experts, asked recently to speculate, say any federal response is likely to be dictated as much by politics as by law.

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, an I-502 supporter who talks frequently with federal authorities, thinks the Justice Department would back off after "a long, intense, fairly high-level conversation" with campaign and state officials.

"In the end, I think the feds will go with the will of the voters," said Holmes.

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[Crow]

Initiative is a step toward making sense of marijuana laws

A historical transformation of social values has occurred during the early years of the 21st century toward once-controversial issues such as same-sex marriage and the use of marijuana. Whenever communal morals shift so significantly, governments eventually recognize the need to conform its laws to reflect the public’s will.

State and federal governments have so far ignored the changing attitude of Americans toward the use of marijuana, both as a medically useful drug and as a recreational diversion. This has resulted in a tangled mess of conflicting laws and regulations that begs to be cleared up quickly.

Initiative 502 has the potential to add to this problem, because until the federal law banning marijuana is changed, anyone possessing even a small amount remains open to federal prosecution.

But voters should approve the initiative for its near-term impact on pressuring Congress to acknowledge the reality of modern attitudes toward the substance.

If approved, I-502 would decriminalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana for adults over age 21. It would license growers and allow the sale of marijuana in private stores licensed, regulated and taxed by the state.

The initiative would create a new marijuana DUI standard based on a blood-THC level – similar to the blood-alcohol limit of 0.08. And it would allow Washington farmers to grow industrial hemp and cash in on a multimillion-dollar national market.

It would also give legitimate medical users an avenue of defense against federal charges.

This initiative has its flaws, and does not even please those who believe in total legalization. By that, they suggest Congress and the state Legislature should wipe its books of all laws making marijuana illegal.

Critics of the initiative point out that 90 percent of marijuana arrests of people in the 16-to-21 age group occur at traffic stops. This initiative will harm those young people, the critics say, because it will turn a marijuana arrest into a more serious DUI charge.

But if we’re going to treat marijuana as a public health issue, as we do alcohol and tobacco, shouldn’t we establish some standard of impairment for the substance?

This initiative attempts to do that.

Public safety expects police officers who smell alcohol or marijuana during a routine traffic stop to investigate impaired driving, whether it is intoxication by pot or by booze. No officer should take the risk of ignoring impairment of any kind, lest that person drive away and kill someone in a traffic accident.

Opponents of I-502 fear the initiative will increase access for people younger than 21, though it’s naive to think juveniles don’t already have complete and unfettered access.

By the same token, supporters are overly optimistic that approval of I-502 would generate new tax revenue for the state by squeezing out the illegal black market controlled by violent gangs and organized crime. Gangs will still have the juvenile market and may offer the substance below government-regulated prices.

Despite its flaws, a recent KING-5 News poll shows that 58 percent of respondents support I-502, and only 21 percent oppose it. Another 21 percent were undecided.

Supporters of the initiative include 16 state legislators, a U.S. attorney, the former Seattle police chief, the NAACP, judges, educators and the Children’s Alliance, an advocacy group representing more than 100 social-service agencies.

Seventeen states have adopted medical marijuana laws. Other states and provinces, including New York and British Columbia, have embraced unofficial decriminalization policies.

The New York Legislature decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults in 1977. The New York Police Department has regularly issued memorandums to its officers – as recently as this month – reminding them not to arrest people with small amounts of the substance, unless they are displaying it publicly.

Congress had doggedly refused to change its classification of marijuana. Right now, according to the feds, marijuana is more dangerous than the prescription pain-killing pills, such as oxycodone, that are killing young and old alike at an alarming rate. The feds consider pot on the same level as heroin.

Congress must lead the way on sensible change to the nation’s marijuana laws, and it’s obvious they aren’t going to act without grass-roots support and pressure from states.

From that perspective, Washington residents who favor change in both state and federal marijuana laws should vote for this initiative.

We know from decades of anti-marijuana laws that the substance remains widely used and accessible to people of all ages. We also know that whatever our national policy is on marijuana, it isn’t working.

It appears to be time for a new approach. I-502 takes a carefully considered first step toward matching laws with community standards.

The Olympian

[Nuusku]

Hope it passes

[Crow]

Thanks bud!

[Crow]

The News Tribune: GOP Senate hopeful latest to endorse legal pot

The campaign to legalize and tax marijuana for adults in Washington state is rolling as next month's vote approaches, with more than $1 million in new contributions reported since last week and a surprising endorsement Wednesday from Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Michael Baumgartner.

SEATTLE — The campaign to legalize and tax marijuana for adults in Washington state is rolling as next month's vote approaches, with more than $1 million in new contributions reported since last week and a surprising endorsement Wednesday from Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Michael Baumgartner.

The money, most of it from retired Progressive Insurance founder Peter Lewis, means Initiative 502's backers have raised nearly $4.1 million over the course of the campaign, with $1.2 million left to spend. Alison Holcomb, campaign manager for New Approach Washington, says her group is planning a broader television campaign than the three-week advertising blitz it ran in Western Washington in August.

Meanwhile, Baumgartner's decision to endorse the initiative in an interview with The Associated Press gave the campaign one of its highest-profile Republican supporters yet. Baumgartner, a state senator from Spokane, is running a longshot bid to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, who came out against I-502 Wednesday afternoon.

Baumgartner said drug law reform isn't typically supported by his party, but he believes I-502 is a good step toward changing what he described as a wasteful policy of marijuana prohibition.

"It's taking a different approach to a very expensive drug war, and potentially a better approach," Baumgartner said. "They've checked all the boxes as far as what you would want to see happen in terms of provisions to keep it away from children and limiting access in the public space. I've just been impressed with the initiative and the people running it."

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[Crow]

The Spokesman-Review Editorial: Regulation, taxation of marijuana worth a try

States have always been the laboratories of democracy, but few have tried to legalize marijuana so it can be regulated and taxed. That’s because Congress adopted a law more than five decades ago that treats pot the same as heroin. The prohibition of marijuana has failed – just as the one on alcohol did – but it is swept up in the “war on drugs.”

Marijuana use is widespread despite being driven underground. As with Prohibition, those making huge profits are gangsters who ruthlessly protect their turf. Gangsters in the 1930s were put out of business by legalizing the sale of alcohol. That can happen with marijuana, too.

Washington state has taken the incremental step of adopting a medical marijuana initiative, but limiting its legal use to those with prescriptions has produced administrative and law enforcement headaches. It’s because pot is illegal for most users that so much money is wasted on enforcement. Legalization would clear that up, leaving federal officers to enforce federal law. They can’t. More than 90 percent of the busts are conducted by state and local officers. At a time when property crimes aren’t investigated for lack of manpower, freeing officers from their pursuit of pot is smart.

Initiative 502 would regulate and tax the production and sale of marijuana. One ounce is the most that could be purchased in a single sale. Buyers must be at least 21 years old. Some of the proceeds would go toward public health campaigns outlining the ill effects of marijuana. The state Liquor Control Board would have a year to develop the rules. The initiative would also legalize the growing of hemp, giving Washingtonians access to a lucrative market.

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[Crow]

The Columbian: "Legalizing and Taxing Marijuana: Yes"

Initiative 502 offers the chance to abandon prohibition as a lost cause

Prohibition of marijuana has failed as miserably as prohibition of alcohol did back in the 1920s. It's time to recognize the obvious: The longer we fight the war against marijuana, the greater grows the defeat.Initiative 502 on the Nov. 6 ballot would legalize recreational use of marijuana, which would be highly taxed and heavily regulated by the state. Licensed farmers would grow marijuana to be sold in private marijuana-only stores.

The Columbian endorses Initiative 502 for many reasons, not the least of which is financial. I-502 offers Washingtonians the chance to radically change how we react to marijuana, from wasting $211 million over the past decade enforcing marijuana laws, to creating a revenue stream of more than $500 million annually via a 25 percent excise tax (plus other taxes) on legal marijuana sales.

Drastic as legalizing marijuana use might sound -- especially compared to Washingtonians' beliefs not too many years ago -- it is what most people want. Several polls show support for I-502, in some surveys by double-digit percentage points. And, interestingly, there has been scant organized opposition. In fact, the strongest resistance has come from the medical marijuana community. Here's some additional information about the anti-I-502 op-ed that is published today on the facing page: Its author, Steve Sarich, was described in a 2010 Seattle Times story as a "medical marijuana activist" and a "licensed medical marijuana grower."

Turning the financial squandering of the war against marijuana into a revenue source for our state would have significant impact on Clark County. According to a study by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (which provided the $211 million figure above), various entities in Clark County spent about $10 million enforcing marijuana laws from 2000-2010. Included were $2.8 million in defense costs and $2.7 million in prosecution costs.

By contrast, the projected half-billion dollars in annual state tax revenue would go mostly to health care ($244 million), the general fund ($182 million) and youth drug prevention programs ($68 million).

Would conflicts arise with federal law? Look what happened after Washington legalized medical marijuana in 1998 (with 59 percent voter approval): The next year, the U.S. Department of Justice notified U.S. attorneys to not spend federal money investigating and prosecuting medical marijuana cases. According to the "Yes on 502" campaign, that DOJ stand-down applied to cases that were in "clear and unambiguous compliance" with the new state law.

More states are putting pressure on the federal government to abandon the war against marijuana. We believe I-502 will add to that pressure. And, if conflicts arise, they can be resolved in the courts.

As for driving laws, I-502 would apply a DUI standard of 5 nanograms of THC (the marijuana component that causes intoxication) per milliliter of blood. Some critics argue the standard is too strict. If so, adjustments could be made legislatively.

Objections to I-502 are unpersuasive. But the need to recognize prohibition as a lost cause could not be more clear. Vote "Yes" on Initiative 502.

Source

[Crow]

The Pacific Northwest Inlander: Forcing a Solution...

Guess who is most worried about the passage of Washington Initiative 502? Members of Mexican drug cartels, that’s who. You know, they’re the thugs behind 14 headless bodies burned in cars in northern Mexico, a gun battle that killed 11 outside a church in Guerrero and an attack on mourners at a funeral just across the river from Texas that killed eight, including a 6-year-old girl. And those are just the headlines from the past couple weeks.

“The Mexican cartels are probably the most organized, well-funded, vicious criminal organizations that we’ve ever seen,” says Chicago-based DEA agent Jack Riley, who echoes the fact that more and more law enforcement officials are losing faith in our drug policy.

The cartels are shooting each other over the billions of dollars generated by drug smuggling and sales in the United States. One of their biggest pipelines runs right through Washington state, from British Columbia, where marijuana is the cash crop, all the way to Southern California, where countless buyers along the drug highway fuel this bloody business.

This grim picture begs for a solution. Meet I-502.

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[Crow]

Tacoma News-Tribune: Should pot be legal? Yes: We have better uses for our resources

I love the saying: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But there’s a corresponding maxim: If it’s broken, don’t be afraid to fix it.

And there’s one truth that everyone acknowledges: Our marijuana policy is as broken as Humpty Dumpty.

Buying pot is as easy as finding a burger at midnight; you just have to know where to go (or so I’m told – I’m not a pot smoker and have never been one, making me both one of the best and worst sponsors of Initiative 502).

The current policy of attempting to address marijuana usage through our criminal justice system is making gangsters obscenely rich, costing the lives of thousands of people and sucking up scarce resources. Is it time for a change? After a week, is it time to change your underwear?

It’s time for I-502.

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Travel writer Rick Steves on stump for marijuana measure

International travel expert Rick Steves will speak at two events in Snohomish County this month, part of an 11-city statewide tour to promote passage of Initiative 502.

The initiative would allow people 21 and older to buy an ounce of marijuana from stores regulated and licensed by the state, where it would be taxed at 25 percent.

The Snohomish County events are scheduled for noon Oct. 16 at the Everett Station and 7 p.m. Oct. 21 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynnwood.

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[Crow]

Ex-DOJ officials laud Washington cannabis measure in new ad

SEATTLE (AP) — The campaign to legalize and tax recreational marijuana sales for those over 21 in Washington is launching a new television ad campaign Thursday, featuring former federal law enforcement officials arguing that pot prohibition has failed.

In one of the ads, two former top Justice Department officials in Seattle, U.S. attorneys John McKay and Kate Pflaumer, join the former head of the FBI's office in Seattle, Charles Mandigo, in urging voters to approve Initiative 502. All three have previously come out in favor of the measure, which would set up a system of licensed marijuana growers, processors and standalone retail stores, and McKay is a sponsor of the initiative.

"We know firsthand that decades of marijuana arrests have failed to reduce use," Mandigo says. "And the drug cartels are pocketing all the profits."

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[Crow]

Washington Post: 'Washington could become first state to approve recreational sales of marijuana for those over 21'

SEATTLE — Washington state is on the verge of becoming the first in the nation to let adults over 21 buy taxed, inspected marijuana at state-licensed shops.

It might not clear up more than a decade of confusion that resulted from the state’s medical marijuana law, or reverse the proliferation of dispensaries. But supporters say passing Initiative 502 on Nov. 6 could make drug laws more reasonable, prevent thousands of arrests a year, and bring Washington hundreds of millions of dollars to help pay for schools, health care and basic government services.

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