Recent Stories with tag marijuana

...robberies have become more common in Washington over the years. Marijuana advocates complain that robberies are underreported because law enforcement officials focus more on confiscating marijuana from the growers than on arresting the thieves. The authorities, in turn, have noted that some growers are exceeding limits on how much of the drug they can possess...

So reads the New York Times story, "Violence Prompts Debate Over Medical Marijuana." The story is based on all of two violent incidents involving medical marijuana growers, so it may be a little early to call this a trend.

Steve Sarich's case may also be an outlier, since King County Sheriff's Department investigators claimed they found 385 "plants." That size of an operation may be more tempting to thieves than the typical 15-plant allotment provided for by state law. At least one of the robbery suspects, anyway, is a authorized medical marijuana user. (The comprehensive Seattle Times story is "Medical-pot grower plans to sue over shootout fallout.")

Sarich argues that many of his plants were just rootless cuttings stuck in pots, but Washington's medical marijuana law was not, it appears, drafted by a horticulturalist. It just says "plants," without a definition of what exactly that is.

This vagueness--combined with a letter-of-the-law spirit on the part of law enforcement--is part of what drove the I-1068 initiative filers to move beyond medical marijuana to legalization. Their Facebook status says, "KCSO narcotics detectives took 17 hours before executing a search warrant on his house, which contains only starter plants. Why are legal medical marijuana providers being harassed? Why is KCSO spending taxpayer dollars this way?"

Sheriff's detectives arrested Olympia mayor pro tem Joe Hyer yesterday, alleging he engaged in "unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance and unlawful use of a residence for drug purposes," reports Seattlepi.com. Hyer has previously been a city council member, and was president of the Olympia Downtown Association.

Norm Stamper, author of "Breaking Rank"

The Northwest is home to plenty of upstanding citizens who prefer marijuana be legalized. Fresh-scrubbed travel guy Rick Steves argues that it's not Christian to put pot smokers in jail. And former Seattle "top cop" Norm Stamper wrote in to Sensible Washington, the people behind the I-1068 marijuana legalization initiative, to let them know of his support:

I thought I would reach out to you, let you know of my strong support for I-1068, and authorize use of my name (and, no doubt, that of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) if you think it would be helpful to the campaign.

Currently Sensible Washington (2,300+ Facebook fans and counting) is looking for volunteer signature gatherers and donations to the cause. In a masterstroke of strategical positioning, they'll be outside the Bon Jovi concert at Seattle Center tonight, gathering signatures. People who want to help are invited to meet at the Space Needle at 6 p.m.

I've been covering the progress of the marijuana legalization initiative, which has apparently gotten me on a high-level marijuana policy list. From way over in Richland, WA, comes this letter from the Three Rivers Collective, which makes the case for collectives for cannabis cultivation. Many of you probably think that since Washington allows medical marijuana use, patients have unfettered access to prescribed medicine. Chet R. Biggerstaff writes in to correct that.

Chet R. Biggerstaff

The people of Washington State decided back in 1998 that certain patients should be able to use and access cannabis without the fear of arrest and persecution. We passed an initiative that gave patients a legal defense in court only as anything more at the time would not have passed.

What this was supposed to have done was stop the arrests of very ill patients and to allow them to use cannabis as their medicine as well as to have access to it. It further allowed the patient to grow their own medicine or have a caregiver grow it for them. The spirit of the law was to make sure patients could use, access, and grow (or have grown by a caregiver) their medicine without fear of arrest or discrimination, but that is not what we have achieved. What we have now are patients that can’t get their medicine, and patients that are scared of their local police and officials.

Patients are supposed to grow their own or have a caregiver grow it for them. This was a good idea initially but has had some "unexpected" issues. Most patients can't grow their own for a number of reasons like a place to do so, or are too sick to do so. So the powers that be say you can have someone grow it for you. Well, this sounds good on paper but it does not work in practice in the current environment.

What is happening to the patients that need a caregiver is either they can’t find anyone to do so for them without taking advantage or they are being ripped off by said caregivers. The vast majority of people I've come across that want to be caregivers are not doing so for the patients but for their pocketbooks. They say they will grow for the patient but then turn around and charge the patient either street prices or very close to street prices for something they should only be paying cost for (power, nutrients, etc) and then turn around and either use the "excess" themselves or sell it on the black market. ... (more)

The Secretary of State has just given the moniker I-1068 to the Sensible Washington initiative to legalize adult cultivation, transport, possession, and use of marijuana. Here's the pdf of the initiative's language. Now the group is waiting on approval from the Attorney General's office.

"They have five business days to give us a neutral and impartial ballot title, ballot question and ballot summary," says the Sensible Washington Facebook page. "If things go smoothly, we could be circulating [petitions] next weekend or sometime the week after."

The group is still negotiating with banks over credit card processing for donations. Wells Fargo has refused to work with them, and PayPal, the obvious choice, has a history of freezing the accounts of drug reform groups who use their service. For now, supporters have no choice but to wrap their green in a paper envelope, lick it to seal, and fire it off via snail mail.

The House Public Safety Committee voted down the bill to legalize marijuana in Washington state, 6-2, and also voted down a bill to decriminalize marijuana, 5-3, says the Seattlepi.com.

HB1177 would have reclassified possession of forty grams or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a class 2 civil infraction. According to the Capitol Record, committee chair Christopher Hurst (D-Enumclaw) argued that if you were out on a boat and crossed the state line, "you could be convicted of a federal drug crime." People who are arrested for using marijuana would face "a lifetime of despair," he said, in arguing to maintain that exact predicament in-state.

Rep. Roger Goodman noted that federal agents do not typically arrest people who smoke marijuana.

Legalization, HB 2401, as expected, failed to win much support at all. Though once again, Christ Hurst offered some trenchant analysis. Per the Capitol Record: "One of my observations is that should fundamentally should the federal government be in the business of regulating marijuana?" Many people would, of course, classify that as a question rather than an observation.

His nemesis, Roger Goodman, countered that the state should regulate marijuana, not "fantasize" that keeping it illegal has kept usage down.... (more)

It's been 20 years since I started high school, and while beepers, baggy sweatshirts and parachute pants are no longer quite as sought after among young people, at least one object retains its allure: Weed!

Walking past the Garfield baseball field on the way to see the basketball team play Bothell, four dudes are hanging out in the dugout, smoking a prodigious amount of marijuana. We're fifteen feet past and my friend blurts out "I can still smell it!"

Mary Jane isn't the only familiar sight. Outside the gym entrance, Joe the security guard still sits in his folding chair, as he did when I was a Bulldog.

Inside the new gym, the Garfield band plays the same songs: Theme from "Peter Gunn," "I'm So Glad," some others I don't know the titles of. Rick, the developmentally disabled fellow who liked to faux-conduct the band when I was a Garfield student, faux-conducts the band.

And the ethnic makeups of the respective teams haven't changed. Garfield predominately black, Bothell...well, as my other friend said: "Bothell doesn't look like a basketball team, they look like a beer pong team."

Bothell didn't play like a beer pong team, not at first. Dominic Ballard drove the lane and scored with a nice lefty finish, a subsequent Garfield turnover led to an Oliver Hardin basket, and the Cougars had an early 6-0 lead.

Some of us weren't watching the game as much as the sidelines, where Garfield's coaches were putting on a fashion show. "Every man over there is very attractive," says friend #1. She preferred the coach in the brown suit with a lavender shirt. "Not everyone can pull off a brown suit," she said, "but he's making it work." She also had high marks for the guy in the gray suit. I have to say, I preferred Garfield head coach Ed Haskins' navy blue jacket, tan pants combo.... (more)

We have Paul Swortz, from The SunBreak Flickr photo pool, to thank for this eye candy.

Let's begin with the week in technology: RealNetworks' CEO Rob Glaser stepped down suddenly; TechFlash owned the story, and has a "What they're saying" round-up.

Microsoft made the Google v. China news twice: The hackers exploited an Internet Explorer flaw and then Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said he "didn't get" what all the fuss was about. (In one sense, there's no arguing with that statement: there is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about hackers tunneling in through IE.)

Zillow is third in real estate websites, and Redfin surged into the top 20, at 18. The "Baby Einstein" people are suing the UW researchers who noticed a distinct lack of Einsteins so far.

On the political front, Mayor McGinn announced he'll try to speed up the Alaskan Way seawall replacement, and the governor said (I'm paraphrasing): That's nice, dear, we're still building a tunnel. The City Council--who'd earlier announced publicly they didn't trust the Mayor--were miffed at not being properly notified. This is the same City Council who unanimously approved the "blank check" Viaduct replacement plan that leaves Seattle taxpayers on the hook for all cost overruns.

In transportation news, a bunch of people took off their pants and rode the light rail. You can still get a free ORCA card (until March 1) thanks to an extension. 330,000 cards have been handed out so far. The Seattle Times properly raps Sound Transit for making the elderly and disabled wait in long lines to get their ORCA card--Seattlest mentioned what a hassle it is last July.... (more)

Initiatives are not just for Tim Eyman any more. A group called Sensible Washington has filed a ballot initiative that would "legalize all adult marijuana possession, manufacturing and sales under Washington state law," reports the AP.

Why the initiative, you might ask? Down in Olympia, there is already legislative talk of decriminalizing marijuana, and one state representative, Mary Lou Dickerson, is willing to bring up legalization. Here in Seattle, you can read pro-pot columns in the Seattle Times: "So why not let people have what they want, but then regulate it--heavily, if need be--and tax it to boot?"

For Sensible Washington ("hey we're on Facebook"), taking legalization of marijuana to the people of Washington is a question of timing and priorities. The committee includes two Seattle attorneys, Douglas Hiatt and Jeffrey Steinborn; Vivian McPeak, a co-founder of Seattle Hempfest and peace activist; Ric Smith, a longtime medical marijuana patient; and Philip Dawdy, initiative co-author and an influential independent reporter on mental health issues.

I spoke to Dawdy about the strategy. While he was happy to see the Legislature having the discussion, he said, the reality is "the legalization bill isn't going to get out of committee. It's dead. The decriminalization bill might get out of committee in the House, but it won't get a floor vote. This is a short session, and their attention will be focused on the budget."

For Dawdy, the initiative represents a chance for the people of the state to give the Legislature permission to do the right thing. Broad legalization for adult possession and use is inspired in part by his sense that "the medical marijuana law is clearly not working," and again and again people are ending up in court to justify possession.

The AP story quotes Mason County prosecutor Gary Burleson, who says, "I don't have a problem with marijuana being legal, and I don't have a problem with it being illegal. But right now, I have a big problem understanding what's legal and what's not."... (more)

"Here's the way I see it," said our legal correspondent over lunch, "the City Council sends a representative to the state legislature and asks that municipalities be given the choice to opt out of state enforcement." We were talking about legalizing marijuana, but not from any personal interest. (I prefer a smoky Scotch.) We were looking for "new revenue" responses to the state's fiscal crisis.

Raising property taxes is a nonstarter. Upping sales taxes is not only infeasible politically, but leaves the state dangerously dependent on consumer confidence. No one but budget policy wonks is still pushing an income tax. But there is a huge hole in the state budget that is cutting into essential services, and the future only looks to bring reassessed, post-bubble property values.

In Olympia, the political will for decriminalization is almost there--in Seattle, it's already been elected. Mayor-elect Mike McGinn told KUOW recently that "We recognize that, like alcohol, it's something that should be regulated not treated as a criminal activity and I think that's where the citizens of Seattle want us to go." ("Legalize marijuana and tax it" is the number two entry on the Ideas for Seattle website.)

On December 14, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of SB 5615 and HB 1177, bills decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, which were introduced by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Rep. Dave Upthegrove.

"We support reclassifying possession of small amounts of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction," is the Council's word on the matter (video), putting possession in the realm of jaywalking in terms of public safety priorities. Under Kohl-Welles bill, possession would draw a fine of $100, but no jail time.

Wrote the senator in an op-ed: "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 prevention services."

State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson takes it even further, reports Publicola:

Dickerson wants Washington farmers to grow pot and sell it in our state’s liquor stores. The revenue, she says, will go to pay for drug and alcohol treatment programs (and to cover the WSLCB’s costs for adding the new product to its shelves.) She estimates the revenues from pot sales would be similar to booze sale revenues, which are currently at $330 million.

...