Democratic State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36) and a Republican former state representative Toby Nixon (R-45) have this excellent op-ed in today's Seattle Times saying it's time to decriminalize marijuana:

We, as a Democratic state senator and former Republican state representative, support state Senate Bill 5615. This bill would reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime carrying a mandatory day in jail to a civil infraction imposing a $100 penalty payable by mail. The bill was voted out of committee with a bipartisan "do pass" recommendation and will be considered by legislators in 2010.

The bill makes a lot of sense, especially in this time of severely strapped budgets. Our state Office of Financial Management reported annual savings of $16 million and $1 million in new revenue if SB 5615 passes. Of that $1 million, $590,000 would be earmarked for the Washington State Criminal Justice Treatment Account to increase support of our underfunded drug-treatment and drug-prevention services. [...]

We now have decades of proof that treating marijuana use as a crime is a failed strategy. It continues to damage the credibility of our public health officials and compromise our public safety. At a fundamental level, it has eroded our respect for the law and what it means to be charged with a criminal offense: 40 percent of Americans have tried marijuana at some point in their lives. It cannot be that 40 percent of Americans truly are criminals.

We hope that the citizens of this state will work with us to help pass SB 5615, the right step for Washington to take toward a more effective, less costly and fairer approach to marijuana use.

Citizens need to work with them, they say, but the one citizen they need most is the biggest obstacle. Speaker of the House Frank Chopp (D-43), who represents the most progressive district in Washington, blocked the decrim bill from getting through the legislature last year—even though it may have had enough votes to pass. Bipartisanship is great. Decriminalizing marijuana is great. And it would be fantastic if Kohl-Welles and others could muscle this through the legislature in 2010. But if they can't get buy-in from Chopp before the session starts next January, we need to run an initiative.