The folks opposing Initiative 502, thereby trying to stop the state's best shot in history at legalizing marijuana, have whipped themselves up into a frenzy as their efforts consumed the feature slots in the current issues of both The Stranger and the Seattle Weekly. After looking at their claims, the science, and the law, my article concludes that most of their concerns are unfounded. In essence, it appears that I-502 isn't perfect enough (DUIs for drivers with fair amounts of active THC in their blood, no home grows, taxes) and legalization may harm the medical marijuana industry, so the medical marijuana community is trying to stop it. And how dare I write that!?!! Clearly, I am an orangutan eating the poop out of another orangutan's butt!
Some anti-I-502 folks have circulated five or six of these on Facebook over the last few days; previously I was a chihuahua lap dog (cute!), stuffed monkey (cymbals!), and an infant (smoking a joint!). They also posted graphics calling I-502 campaign director Alison Holcomb a "dictator 4 life" and NORML's Russ Belville as a "parrot." Because clearly the only reason anyone would support the only pot initiative we've ever seen in Washington that would win, according to polls, is because we're shills. No reasonable person would look at the evidence and vote to stop 10,000 marijuana arrests per year—unless he or she had been bought!
I know that lawmaking is difficult and not every initiative achieves the end goal. Consider the Medical Use of Marijuana Act, which lacked arrest protection for patients but was a huge advance, allowing the medical pot industry to proliferate in the first place. But lots of self-proclaimed pot activists are against this initiative. Hempfest director and medical pot patient Vivian McPeak (who wasn't involved with the graphics), for example, opposes I-502 because it applies the same automatic guilt for pot DUIs we currently have for alcohol DUIs. Now Hempfest is technically neutral. Hempfest is neutral! On legalizing pot!
The Patients Against New Approach Washington pages on Facebook and website both seem to be down today. But these sorts of orangutan ass graphics on Facebook are apparently the face of the anti-I-502 efforts. Now that the facts are out on the table, this is their argument. This is their reasoning. And I'm the enemy. They can't even get my job title correct. I'm not the editor (that's Christopher), I'm the the news editor. Which brings me to my last question: What do they have against rimming?
