Washington state Democrats back marijuana legalization initiative

[earcandle]

Source: The Raw Story

Washington state Democrats passed a resolution on Saturday to endorse Initiative 502, which would legalize the production and distribution of marijuana for sale to adults 21 and over through state-licensed stores.

The resolution was passed by a 75 to 43 vote.

The resolution (PDF) stated that thousands of Washington adults are arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for marijuana possession each year, wasting millions of dollars on law enforcement resources that could be used for more important public safety concerns.

The resolution also noted that taxing marijuana, the state's second biggest cash crop, would generate an estimated $215 million in new revenues for Washington.

The measure would also amend Washington's DUI laws by making driving under the influence of 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood of THC, the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana, illegal. The 5 nanogram limit would not apply to the non-psychoactive marijuana metabolite carboxy-THC, which can appear in blood or urine tests for weeks.

If organizers gather enough signatures, the initiative would either be voted on by the state legislature or appear on the November 2012 ballot.



Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/19/washington-state-democrats-back-marijuana-legalization-initiative/

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Yeah! Some common sense approaches happening in the north west by north west!

[napoleon_in_rags]

1. Good. I know that hippy.

Yeah, he smokes the weed. Then he plays guitar and tells me about energies he's feeling from the upcoming consciousness shift in 2012. He holds down a job at the health food store. He's NOT the guy who tries to break into my house, he's NOT the guy who tries to steal my money, he's NOT the guy who's out there being belligerent or violent, and therefore I do NOT want to pay my hard earned taxpayer dollars to incarcerate him.

[floriduck]

42. This could put a real crimp in the private prison movement.

[Capitalocracy]

45. Even if he won't shut up about the consciousness shift in 2012.

Which is just a backtrack from the old end of the world line anyway, now that the date's coming up quick.

[DissedByBush]

49. I don't know any hippies

But I know a few pot smokers. Just your average people.

It's about time.

[tridim]

2. Awesome news, but..

Will it be legal for police to draw blood at random checkpoints?

How is that going to work?

[jmowreader]

5. It's legal next door

Police departments in Idaho send cops to phlebotomy training at North Idaho College. They aren't allowed to draw blood unless they've been phlebotomy certified.

What's REALLY going to be fun is, how are they going to test all that blood if they set up weed checkpoints? Neither Washington nor Idaho have the money to buy GC/MS units to use at police checkpoints.

[tridim]

19. Point is, nobody is going to submit to blood being drawn by cops.

I doubt cops want to do it either due to safety issues. It would be a logistical nightmare.

[jmowreader]

51. Point is, people DO submit to blood being drawn by cops

In Idaho, the cops have been drawing blood for at least a year and people submit to it.

[AllyCat]

28. Who needs pricey lab equipment when they can just look at someone

and know. After all, profiling is so effective...oh wait... nevermind. Well, still. Just look at the skin color, dress, and type of vehicle and they'll be able to do it. (Do I need a little face thing here?)

[liberalmike27]

15. And

Will the police be pulling people over for driving 20 mph in a 45 mph zone?

[Ken Burch]

34. Or for possession of munchies?

n/t.

[Tutankhamun]

46. I was once pulled over for swerving

I only swerved once, and was otherwise driving proficiently. I was opening a cellophane wrapped cinnamon roll from 7-11

The conversation went like this.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?"
"Mmph gulp! Mmmmm! Nuh uh."
"You swerved across the double line."
"Oh. This cinnamon roll is really good! Do you want the other one?"
"Have you had anything to drink?"
"You're right. Some milk would be great right now!"

I explained that I had swerved because I was opening the cinnamon roll (which was true).

He was nice and let me go.

True story (except for the part about the milk).

[ooglymoogly]

21. Could be the same kind of test for diabetics

a home tester that leaves a tiny pinprick on the finger or elsewhere.

[Arctic Dave]

3. K&R

Dirty hippies unite!

[neoconn]

4. We tried in Cali...

The pot growers and some pot clubs are actually the ones responsible for defeat of the Cali bill. They united on a front and persuaded others to vote no. I hope that does not happen in Wash....

[Le Taz Hot]

10. That's not exactly accurate.

There were a few big time growers that the anti-crowd brought in to bolster their argument but the news media gave them disproportionate coverage which made them sound like a larger opposition group than they actually were. Proposition 19 (which Brown was AGAINST) only lost by 7 percentage points and that was with the "Pro" crowd pretty much sitting on all the donation money (never ONE ad so I'm not sure where all the money went). It will be on the ballot again next year and maybe next time the pro crowd will get it's collective shit together and start doing INFORMATIONAL ads this time.

There's also SB 676 (hemp legalization Bill) that passed both Legislative houses and is now sitting on Brown's desk. We'll see.

[Romulox]

27. The same Jerry Brown who was part of the "NO" legalization campaign?

Besides, they aren't locking up millions of Americans for "hemp". :eyes:

BTW, remember when you demanded evidence of child labor in the USA, then ran away when I provided copious evidence of same? I took that as a concession of my point. :hi:

[Le Taz Hot]

32. No,

I remember requesting that you provide a link to a particular study that you repeatedly referred to. What I received from you was links to articles referencing the study but never the study itself, peppered with a good deal of snark and baseless accusations (much like the one you make now in which I "ran away"). If one is going to survive on DU it's important that one remove one's ego from the issue(s) one is advocating otherwise one just begins to look paranoid.

Now, I believe the issue in this particular thread was cannabis/hemp. Care to offer an opinion?

[Romulox]

33. I just did: legalizing "hemp" is a cop out.

"What I received from you was links to articles referencing the study but never the study itself"

Know how I know you didn't read the links carefully? The point is, you demanded "evidence" as an distraction; you had no real interest in the substance of the argument.

[Le Taz Hot]

39. What if they gave a pissing contest

and only one person showed up? They'd have to piss on themselves. Buh bye.

[Romulox]

40. Just as I thought--you're not an honest poster; you flee when your bluff is called.

Disagreeing with you isn't a "pissing contest", either. :hi:

[ooglymoogly]

50. I think the operative words there are "cop out"

but maybe should have been "cops out"; of snooping in everyone's private lives for fun, profit and power.

[neoconn]

38. It is very accurate..

I am not speaking from "news' knowledge. I am speaking from "inside" knowledge. I have been in the medical MJ community for at least 10 years. I have worked for MJ clubs. I have been to clubs from LA, the bay and Sac. I have helped delivery services get started from the ground up. I wanted this prop to pass so bad I could taste it. I spoke with HUNDREDS of growers and clubs owners and they were adamant about defeating prop 19. I heard so many lies being spread about the prop and side effects. It was a uphill battle trying to squash the dis-information. The only MJ club that I found that supported the bill was Harborside. Even small growers voted no. They didn't want to stop the "cash cow". Pure greed. I am 100% on the money on this one. Wish I could say more.....

[Romulox]

41. Jerry Brown came out strongly AGAINST legalization; he's part of the problem. nt

[Ken Burch]

48. Brown should never have won the Democratic nomination

he hasn't been on the side of the Democratic base on any major issues since he's gone back into office...and if you start out your term as a bland austerity centrist, you're gonna end it that way.

Brown should have just retired after his Oakland gig, or joined the 'pugs. He's not worth a damn unless your a ceo.

[Ken Burch]

47. He'll veto it, just like he vetoed the farmworkers bill

Jerry Brown isn't ever going to let any genuinely progressive legislation get through-

If you're not down-the-line pro-farmworker and pro-legalization, there's not much of anything else you can still be progressive on. Environmental bills don't really count on that score anymore, since they aren't controversial at all.

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. I wonder where people will be allowed to smoke it ?

As in Sonoma County, California we are seeing efforts to ban smoking in private apartments, private condos, including on peoples balconies as well as bans in parks, streets and almost any public place - This of course this is for tobacco. But if marijuana is legalized I can only assume these bans will apply as well.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. Sonoma County sucks eggs

Seeking to control behavior in private homes is egg sucking right wing insanity. Places that do that are opening the door to all manner of horrors. Great reason to avoid it, as I just found out when looking at real estate there, which gets more affordable each and every day.

[Politicalboi]

7. They should do saliva tests

Saliva is a better test. It can detect THC for up to 3 hours at least. Some tests vary. But before they start charging us the same as a drunk, they better give us the same sobriety test. If we pass that, they should let us go. I could pass that even if I just smoked and got in the car. With the pot today, it is weaker than it was 30 years ago. Back then, I would have had to wait to drive.

[reggie the dog]

our main left wing party has endorsed legalization here in france

the number one contender for the nomination of the Socialist party for president, François Hollande, has said that people either need to support banning alcohol, tobacco and cannabis or having the 3 legal and in the context of France he is not proposing to make wine illegal. of course the right wing UMP party is anti legalization citing that cannabis is ravaging the health of our youth, to which Hollande replied that from what he has seen and read that tobacco and alcohol are ravinging the health of the young and old alike.

[Romulox]

24. Our main "left wing" party in the USA has stepped up persecution of Medical Marijuana patients.

It's a different world, over here. :shrug:

[reggie the dog]

8. dupe

x

[eridani]

9. The fly in the ointment is that there is another initiative with a different legal approach

What that means is that neither has a prayer of getting enough signatures. What will it take for all the people who want to change our society's relationship to marijuana on the same page?

I'd suggest the following approach if two camps can't come to an agreement on strategy. Flip a coin to see which initiative to back. Everyone agrees to work on onlyt that initiative. If it fails, then next year everyone does the same thing with the other initiative.

[Le Taz Hot]

11. Go Washington!

We'll (CA) have our own ballot initiative again next year. It's been pretty much legal in Oregon for years already so, if Oregon can pass theirs and California can pass theirs, what are the feds going to do, raid the entire West Coast?

[Muskypundit]

35. Yes.

[RKP5637]

12. K&R!!! n/t

[mdmc]

13. r

[Generic Other]

14. well hey!

Marijuana bed and breakfast anyone? hahaha

:smoke:

don't bogart that joint.

[duhneece]

16. Great news

Every story I read like this is one baby step closer to a rational approach to our current failed War on Drugs policy. Good on Washington!

[SHRED]

17. Mixed feelings on this one

I'd rather see recreational and medical marijuana use legalized but NOT state controlled stores and no commercial sales much like the most recent CA proposition making it's way to the ballot now.

Instead of focusing on tax revenue from marijuana use I believe the tax revenue issue should be focused on the legal growth of hemp by our farmers and the cottage industries that spring forward from it.

It's good they are attempting a true "under the influence" test but blood?

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[gateley]

44. I'm just glad that those who need it medically may now be

able to actually get it. If it's State controlled or commercially sold, so be it. Not ideal, but at least those who are suffering will have easy access.

[RussBLib]

18. Somebody PLEASE pass this

...and let's get a move-on. This should be such a no-brainer, but it just feels like this country can't do ANYTHING right now.

[bobthedrummer]

22. Community Supported Agriculture!

:smoke:

[ooglymoogly]

23. Hey thats common sense...thought the pugs stamped that out

and made illegal long ago; to accommodate fascist corporate Murka.

[Romulox]

25. Is it possible to arrest the entire state of Washington, all at once?

Not happy:

[AllyCat]

26. Gosh, common sense?? Where did that come from?

And passed by a resounding measure too. Way to go WA!! Lead the way for the rest of the backwards US.

[patrice]

29. Jobs. - AND - Revenues. This IS a no-brainer. why, Why, WHY is it such a big deal??? nt

[BadtotheboneBob]

30. I can't see this getting by the Feds...

... until cannabis is removed from the schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. No matter what Washington (the state) enacts in regards to the 'legal' sale, possession, use etc. of cannabis, it's still a violation of federal law. There's no getting around it. I wish it were not so. I support the total legalization of cannabis. But, the DEA is still the 800 lb gorilla that could come crashing through your door.

[Douglas Carpenter]

36. you're probably right - the U.S. Federal Government would probably penalize the state financially by

withholding massive amounts of funds for various programs citing the states noncompliance as the reason. This was the main reason why the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands backed off from legalizing marijuana. They were threatened with a massive loss of federal funding and aid for numerous programs and projects if they went through with it.

[saras]

37. "DEA is still the 800 lb gorilla...crashing through your door" or your neighbor's, with guns blazing

The DEA has a really bad record of shooting up people in the wrong house. I suppose it's a good technique to get your neighbors prejudiced against your using marijuana - "knock it off or the DEA will come and kill OUR kids and dogs, not YOURS."

[Uncle Joe]

31. Kicked and recommended for common sense, logic, sanity, justice, and freedom.

Thanks for the thread, earcandle.:thumbsup:

[windowpilot]

43. The War on the Poor,

is coming to an end. Peace, Pot, Microdot.