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News & ArtsFriday, March 25, 2011
Olympia Every Member of Seattle's Legislative Delegation Goes on the Record in Favor of Legalizing Pot
Posted by Dominic Holden on Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 11:43 AM
Sweet democracy on a stick. As of yesterday evening, every member of Seattle legislative delegation to Olympia—all ten representatives and all five senators from the 34th, 36th, 37th, 43rd, and 46th Districts—had gone on the record to say that they support taxing, regulating, and legalizing marijuana. They join every elected official at City Hall (the mayor, the city attorney, and all nine members of the city council) and King County Executive Dow Constantine.
The final holdout was 46th District Representative David Frockt (who had been opposed to legalization a couple weeks ago). However, after a little goading and he heard testimonies from former US attorney John McKay and a former Whatcom County judge on a bill to tax and regulate pot, Frockt called last night to say that he had come around. He wouldn't commit to any specific bill, but said, "I am okay with legalization, I am okay with regulation, and I am fine with taxation." Good job, Rep. Frockt.
Has any other major US city shown such widespread support among its elected leaders for legalizing marijuana? I don't know. I just called an office at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where a staffer told me that uniform support for legalization "is not the case in San Francisco," adding that his employer, Sean R. Elsbernd, "would have some concerns."
This seems significant, whether we're the first city or not: It appears that the safest position politically these days—the most mainstream position a politician can take in Seattle—is to replace the War on Pot with a government takeover the entire industry. Quashing the politically toxic drug war is a winning platform. A decade ago, before Seattle voters had deprioritized enforcement of pot possession, most local lawmakers wouldn't touch this issue with a ten-foot bong. A poll last year found that most people in Washington support legalizing pot. Now all the lawmakers and the media are on board, too.
Not to get too speculative, but... is this what it looks like approximately 18 months before the first state in the US legalizes marijuana?
1
hot damn i sure hope so. I haven't been able to find a regular dealer since I moved to this god-forsaken-city.
3
I hope so, but I think fear of how the feds would respond and disagreements over how it should be done will keep it from happening in the near term.
It's one thing to be in favor of it in theory but its another to be willing to say have state employees selling something that the federal government throws people in jail for even having. Even if you just go full legalization and let people grow and sell their own, any taxing or regulatory system is going to depend on people admitting to something that is still illegal nationally.
I think a good place to start would just be decriminalization. Have the state stop doing anything about it except say prosecuting people who sell to children or drive while stoned.
It's one thing to be in favor of it in theory but its another to be willing to say have state employees selling something that the federal government throws people in jail for even having. Even if you just go full legalization and let people grow and sell their own, any taxing or regulatory system is going to depend on people admitting to something that is still illegal nationally.
I think a good place to start would just be decriminalization. Have the state stop doing anything about it except say prosecuting people who sell to children or drive while stoned.
4
I know, let's do like Canada did today and throw out our Nanny State Conservative government!
Emerald State ftw!
(where are those stuffed cupcakes again?)
Emerald State ftw!
(where are those stuffed cupcakes again?)
5
@3: Yes, they'll throw our entire state government in federal prison over this. Then they'll sue the rest of us.
6
@5 they'll pry our Freedoms from our cold dead hands ... oh wow ... have you ever really looked at your hands?
8
@3 That's what I think makes the plan to sell through the state so genius. Unlike in california or any medical state where businesses are being targeted by the feds, the shit-storm that would unravel if the federal government tried to take down our entire STATE would be insane and (with my very very very small understanding of how these things actually work) would seem to be impossible for the feds to do.
10
@8 But they wouldn't have to take down the entire state, they could just arrest one or two employees (If I worked at a state store I would be pretty apprehensive about selling marijuana) or stand outside the store and arrest people as they left.
I would think that at the very least the fear of that would help maintain at least some form of a black market.
At the very least the feds, maybe not now but if say a more conservative president came to power, would sue the state and result in a costly legal battle that we may very well lose.
I think it would be great if we tried, but I think its an added complication to getting Olympia to go along. That's why I just like decriminalization. The Feds cannot force us to enforce laws.
I would think that at the very least the fear of that would help maintain at least some form of a black market.
At the very least the feds, maybe not now but if say a more conservative president came to power, would sue the state and result in a costly legal battle that we may very well lose.
I think it would be great if we tried, but I think its an added complication to getting Olympia to go along. That's why I just like decriminalization. The Feds cannot force us to enforce laws.
11
@10 at least in Arizona when they drive a tank thru your house, they don't quarter troops in it ... cause it's gone.
12
@9 The Seattle Freeze, yo. I totally empathize. My best buddy had his medical card so everything was rainbows for a while, but since he moved away I've just been using my lack of a hookup as an excuse to save money.
13
No, I am completely serious. Maybe it's because I haven't tried very hard, but I have lived in many different cities and none have been as hard to find pot.
14
@13 It's really easy. Go into a bar and make a couple new friends. One of them either deals themselves or knows someone. The Seattle Freeze doesn't exist when alcohol is involved and you aren't a complete drunken moron.
15
Just think of the revenue this could bring to our state. The revenue would also spill over to other businesses, convenience stores, resturaunts, anyone who sells delicious and or shiny things. This could be great for our states economy.
"But, what if our kids get their hands on it?" Some may ask. I hate to break it to you and shatter your idiotic perceptions on the innocence of youth, well not really but, they already fucking are.
[RELATED STORY TIME]
A few months ago, I was walking my dog through Ravenna Park for our late afternoon walk. It was a nice overcast afternoon, not cold or warm. We're just past the second bridge and I start to smell pot in the air. I thought about it for a minute and decided to find the source. The chances were fairly high that I would know who was smoking so I thought I'd match them. We get to the end of the path we were on. We could either go down to the service road through Ravenna or go up the back stairs to the picnic area. We start up the path to the stairs, full of hope that we woud run into a friend. What we found there shocked the hell out of me, It was a group of 5 or so, kids that looked about 10-13, and I'm a fairly jaded person. I asked if they'd make room for us to pass through, they did. I briefly thought about notifying the authorities that a pack of kids were smoking in the park then i thought about it a little more. I came to the thought, why throw their futures away like that, they'd probably be taken to juvie which sets them up for a life of crime, more so than just smoking a little pot would. Moral of the story: kids are already able to find access to marijuana. Would you rather them find it, somehow, through a state run store where there is some measure of safety in the product or from some junkie/tweeker on a street corner that'll probably lace it with something to get them hooked on worse things? Or, instead of being half-assed parents who use scare tactics on your children, how about you educate yourself about marijuana and sit down with children and have an honest talk with them about it.
More...
"But, what if our kids get their hands on it?" Some may ask. I hate to break it to you and shatter your idiotic perceptions on the innocence of youth, well not really but, they already fucking are.
[RELATED STORY TIME]
A few months ago, I was walking my dog through Ravenna Park for our late afternoon walk. It was a nice overcast afternoon, not cold or warm. We're just past the second bridge and I start to smell pot in the air. I thought about it for a minute and decided to find the source. The chances were fairly high that I would know who was smoking so I thought I'd match them. We get to the end of the path we were on. We could either go down to the service road through Ravenna or go up the back stairs to the picnic area. We start up the path to the stairs, full of hope that we woud run into a friend. What we found there shocked the hell out of me, It was a group of 5 or so, kids that looked about 10-13, and I'm a fairly jaded person. I asked if they'd make room for us to pass through, they did. I briefly thought about notifying the authorities that a pack of kids were smoking in the park then i thought about it a little more. I came to the thought, why throw their futures away like that, they'd probably be taken to juvie which sets them up for a life of crime, more so than just smoking a little pot would. Moral of the story: kids are already able to find access to marijuana. Would you rather them find it, somehow, through a state run store where there is some measure of safety in the product or from some junkie/tweeker on a street corner that'll probably lace it with something to get them hooked on worse things? Or, instead of being half-assed parents who use scare tactics on your children, how about you educate yourself about marijuana and sit down with children and have an honest talk with them about it.
16
Now that you've surveyed Seattle legislators, try asking around in the suburbs and in other cities. The problem is that it doesn't matter what a majority of state residents will say in a survey if their legislators aren't on board with changing the law.
Once you get a majority for reform, you do the reforms step-by-step. Start with eliminating the most egregious state laws, and every year eliminate a few more until it's legal statewide except for the same exceptions that apply to alcohol (no minors, no DUI). By all means keep pushing full legalization, but every time you do offer up the less-radical alternative that has the votes for that session. Eventually you'll be left with nothing more to do but full legalization. THEN you can have the battle with the feds over their enforcement.
It's worked pretty well for expanding marriage-like rights for gays and lesbians. Figure out where the majority is and where they're going, and fight like hell to get everything the current majority and the political process will allow.
Once you get a majority for reform, you do the reforms step-by-step. Start with eliminating the most egregious state laws, and every year eliminate a few more until it's legal statewide except for the same exceptions that apply to alcohol (no minors, no DUI). By all means keep pushing full legalization, but every time you do offer up the less-radical alternative that has the votes for that session. Eventually you'll be left with nothing more to do but full legalization. THEN you can have the battle with the feds over their enforcement.
It's worked pretty well for expanding marriage-like rights for gays and lesbians. Figure out where the majority is and where they're going, and fight like hell to get everything the current majority and the political process will allow.
17
Face it, legalizing MJ reduces taxes on the rest of us who don't smoke MJ.
And helps local businesses.
By the way: still illegal to smoke within 25 feet of a store. Still illegal to drive while not capable of driving (e.g. stoned). Still illegal to not pay taxes.
And helps local businesses.
By the way: still illegal to smoke within 25 feet of a store. Still illegal to drive while not capable of driving (e.g. stoned). Still illegal to not pay taxes.
18
I"m so tired of the claims that we can't drive while high. It's absolutely ridiculous, know your limit. If you can't drive while high, then you know you're limit. Personally, I drive better high. So fuck anyone that tries to tell me different.
19
Life become illogical, people are more stupid. Where is the country going? Let’s take the war on drugs. It feels like the more we are fighting the war on drugs the less we are winning! I know why. No matter what kind of drug it is right now: pot, cocaine or crack. There is a finite amount of drugs that can be produced at any moment. Now what are we doing as a nation? We fight it. How are we fighting it? We are catching drug smugglers, drug dealers, and drug manufacturers. What is the impact on the supply of drugs? There are fewer drugs on the street, commanding higher prices for the drugs, therefore making it more profitable to produce and distribute drugs. I strongly believe that the bigger guys, “the cartels” will always manage to get their product into the United States. Why? Because the “War on drugs “ makes the drugs more profitable, so the bigger guys can pay a higher price for distribution. The cartels pay lower prices for drugs because they deal in volume, and can also afford higher prices for distribution. Unless we can see everything and everyone passing through our borders, we are wasting our money fighting “the Drug War”. That is billions of dollars of your tax dollars wasted every year, year after year. The only people benefiting from the war of drugs are the cartels themselves. I suggest the opposite approach. Flood the market with drugs and make it cheap to buy them. Cut the profit margins of cartels from 1000% to nothing. Then we will win the drug war. Let’s tax the businesses that will sell the drugs at 60% and use that revenue for drug treatment programs.
20
Hurray for Washington State. Its about time, and now maybe some of those timid police states like mine (take a guess - it is in the south) will wake up and smell the sweet scent of the lovely weed. God said every herb and plant on earth was ours to use, and use it I will, or am, or whatever.
21
This is great news. Keep up the good work in this direction. Now take all the money the state will save from persecuting pot smokers and invest it in the schools and mass transit before the fed sees it and offers it to some other country..
22
You forgot the 11th. Seattle is in 6 LDs, not five. What else would we expect from The Stranger...
23
After one state switches from wasting tax dollars on prohibition to generating tax dollars off regulation, the other states will soon follow and the Feds will back off. When people understand that the actual choices being made in today's state economies is to lay off teachers so they can have the money to lock up pot growers, parents will understand that there are bigger threats to their child's future than adults buying marijuana legally or not. The real threat is their kids won't have the education needed to compete in a global workplace.
Your unemployment rate in Washington will be the lowest in the nation if you can get this thing passed.
Your unemployment rate in Washington will be the lowest in the nation if you can get this thing passed.
24
I believe it is a matter for the majority of people to see that the whole cannabis prohibition, the whole DEA "dogma" that "marijuana is a dangerous drug without accepted medical use" be exposed in its anti-scientific, deceptive nature. Cannabis is not physically addictive as it lacks the recognizable "physical withdrawal syndrome" (like opiates, or alcohol, for example); the so-called "gateway drug theory" has been proven to be nonsense by a scientific research, and was even declared "half-baked" by a recent study; drug Marinol, much touted by the DEA, is not at all the same as medicinal cannabis which, as opposed to Marinol, has over 70 active compounds interacting in therapeutic ways. Cannabis decriminalization is followed by a decrease (not an increase) in "teenage use", as the example of Portugal clearly shows, and (with another major scare-tactic disintegrating), smoking cannabis does not increase one's risk of lung cancer; combine all this with the violence-suppressing qualities of cannabis use, its propensity to be a "safe alternative" to alcohol/hard drugs, its remarkable medicinal properties, and then see if the DEA "dogmas" have any factual foundation and not just an empty talk that is being enforced by a version of philosophical "radical pragmatism" which basically "allows" its followers to disregard the truth in favor of, let's say, DEA "dogma", with such a dogma being constantly "reinforced" by a consciousness of "guilt" and "fear". "Radical Pragmatism" was at the basis of Illinois patients being denied their medicine, because the DEA intimidated enough "law-makers" with the "non-existing entity" of a "gateway drug theory. The same way, some rogue politicos in Montana are trying to trample the will of Voters of that state by "repealing" the medical marijuana law! So, what we (and I mean, all of us) need to do is spread this scientific knowledge (along with the refutation of "dogma"), so that even for the politicians this becomes a question of either siding with fear and ignorance (which will assure one kind or "legacy"), or with science, progress and compassion, which will bring a totally different "legacy" altogether; I doubt that any of these crooks will enjoy a "legacy" of him remaining silent when the modern-day "storm-troopers" dragged a cancer-afflicted granny to jail for using medicinal cannabis. Let's not forget to ask our politicians as well as to why they are "crying broke" and yet, at the same time keep financing the so-called "marijuana enforcement" while most of the country wants this rather harmless natural substance decriminalized altogether, and definitely legalized when it comes to its many remarkable medicinal uses.
More...
25
"I hope so, but I think fear of how the feds would respond and disagreements over how it should be done will keep it from happening in the near term."
It really does matter what they do with the retail supply chain. It's ridiculous to think that the State would start distributing cannabis in State owned stores without the blessings of the Feds. They can still pass the law though and when the Feds are finally neutered on this issue they can get right to work.
--------------------------
"It's one thing to be in favor of it in theory but its another to be willing to say have state employees selling something that the federal government throws people in jail for even having. Even if you just go full legalization and let people grow and sell their own, any taxing or regulatory system is going to depend on people admitting to something that is still illegal nationally. "
The California Board of Equalization (CBOE) said that California pocketed over $100 million in sales tax collected by their medical cannabis vendors. They made a specific decision to allow their medical cannabis vendors to register in a general category to get around the problem with self incrimination. So no, admitting to being involved in a criminal activity is not required.
It really does matter what they do with the retail supply chain. It's ridiculous to think that the State would start distributing cannabis in State owned stores without the blessings of the Feds. They can still pass the law though and when the Feds are finally neutered on this issue they can get right to work.
--------------------------
"It's one thing to be in favor of it in theory but its another to be willing to say have state employees selling something that the federal government throws people in jail for even having. Even if you just go full legalization and let people grow and sell their own, any taxing or regulatory system is going to depend on people admitting to something that is still illegal nationally. "
The California Board of Equalization (CBOE) said that California pocketed over $100 million in sales tax collected by their medical cannabis vendors. They made a specific decision to allow their medical cannabis vendors to register in a general category to get around the problem with self incrimination. So no, admitting to being involved in a criminal activity is not required.
26
When someone makes the bogus claim that Marinol is the same thing as pot I generate a couple of standard reactions.
1) Heroin addicts very much enjoy oxycodone. As a matter of fact it's easily arguable that they prefer it. There have been "pill mills" opened by accommodating doctors around the country to cater to these junkies. Why is it that you suppose that potheads don't seek Marinol prescriptions for any reason other than to baffle a drugs test?
2) Marinol is schedule 3, and oxycodone is schedule II and that's a night and day difference in DEA oversight of the two categories. For example, there are no refills allowed on a schedule II drug. If you want more you have to pay for a doctor's appointment which is precisely how the "pill mills" earn their money. But they could make a pile of money selling Marinol scripts too. Why haven't any "Marinol mills" popped up anywhere?
You can't argue that potheads don't desire legality based on the popularity of "synthetic" cannabis. The potheads sure went after that product. But we don't care to put even modest effort into obtaining Marinol despite it being lab produced and a known quantity.
1) Heroin addicts very much enjoy oxycodone. As a matter of fact it's easily arguable that they prefer it. There have been "pill mills" opened by accommodating doctors around the country to cater to these junkies. Why is it that you suppose that potheads don't seek Marinol prescriptions for any reason other than to baffle a drugs test?
2) Marinol is schedule 3, and oxycodone is schedule II and that's a night and day difference in DEA oversight of the two categories. For example, there are no refills allowed on a schedule II drug. If you want more you have to pay for a doctor's appointment which is precisely how the "pill mills" earn their money. But they could make a pile of money selling Marinol scripts too. Why haven't any "Marinol mills" popped up anywhere?
You can't argue that potheads don't desire legality based on the popularity of "synthetic" cannabis. The potheads sure went after that product. But we don't care to put even modest effort into obtaining Marinol despite it being lab produced and a known quantity.
27
I naturally encourage other smokers to vote and let themselves be heard democratically.
It is very encouraging to think that now, perhaps the politicians are doing the same, and for many of the same reasons. They may not be victimized by the drug war, as I have been, but they see the same blatant hypocrisy and exploitations therein. I urge everyone concerned with the protection of our personal liberties to applaud these representatives for speaking out against an entrenched system on the side of reason. This sort of open rethinking and planning is what America needs at this crucial stage in world history.
- mok(vohk)
It is very encouraging to think that now, perhaps the politicians are doing the same, and for many of the same reasons. They may not be victimized by the drug war, as I have been, but they see the same blatant hypocrisy and exploitations therein. I urge everyone concerned with the protection of our personal liberties to applaud these representatives for speaking out against an entrenched system on the side of reason. This sort of open rethinking and planning is what America needs at this crucial stage in world history.
- mok(vohk)
28
I naturally encourage other smokers to vote and let themselves be heard democratically.
It is very encouraging to think that now, perhaps the politicians are doing the same, and for many of the same reasons. They may not be victimized by the drug war, as I have been, but they see the same blatant hypocrisy and exploitations therein. I urge everyone concerned with the protection of our personal liberties to applaud these representatives for speaking out against an entrenched system on the side of reason. This sort of open rethinking and planning is what America needs at this crucial stage in world history.
- mok(vohk)
It is very encouraging to think that now, perhaps the politicians are doing the same, and for many of the same reasons. They may not be victimized by the drug war, as I have been, but they see the same blatant hypocrisy and exploitations therein. I urge everyone concerned with the protection of our personal liberties to applaud these representatives for speaking out against an entrenched system on the side of reason. This sort of open rethinking and planning is what America needs at this crucial stage in world history.
- mok(vohk)
29
@26: Marinol (known generically as dronabinol) is synthetic THC. THC is just one of many cannabinoids present in the cannabis plant.
30
Initiative 1149 is here! If passed, it would remove state civil and criminal penalties for adult cannabis use. No more $ wasted, no new laws to get sued by the Feds over, no more bull. Search Google for Sensible Washington and find a location near you to sign! We still need sufficient signatures to place it on the November ballot - that means we need YOUR help!
32
@10
All this would do is provide the Supreme Court with a great landmark case that they would [gladly] take. I am fairly certain that the state of Washington v. United States case would be a win for state's rights.
All this would do is provide the Supreme Court with a great landmark case that they would [gladly] take. I am fairly certain that the state of Washington v. United States case would be a win for state's rights.
35
elsbernd is probably the most conservative of SF's supes but I reckon at least a majority support legalization.
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