SEATTLE LAWMAKER SAYS ITS TIME TO HAVE THE DISCUSSION
BY RACHELLA CORTE
Associated Press
OLYMPIA — Washington is one of four states where measures to legalize and regulate marijuana have been introduced, and about two dozen other states are considering bills ranging from medical marijuana to decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the herb.
“In terms of state legislatures, this is far and away the most active year that we’ve ever seen,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the New Yorkbased Drug Policy Alliance, which supports reforming marijuana laws.
Nadelmann saidthat while legalization efforts are not likely to get much traction in state capitals anytime soon, the fact that there is such an increase of activity “is elevating the level of public discourse on this issue and legitimizing it.”
“I would say that we are close to the tipping point,” he said. “At this point they are still seen as symbolic bills to get the conversation going, but at least the conversation can be a serious one.”
Opponents of relaxing marijuana laws aren’t happy with any conversation on the topic, other than keeping the drug illegal.
“There’s no upside to it in any manner other than for those people who want to smoke pot,” said Travis Kuykendall,head of the West Texas High Intensity DrugTrafficking Area office in El Paso, Texas. “There’s nothing for society in it, there’s nothing good for the country in it, there’s nothing for the good of the economy in it.”
Legalization bills were introduced in California and Massachusetts earlier this year, and this month, New Hampshire and Washington state prefiled bills in advance of their legislative sessions that begin in January. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, but guidelines have been loosened on federal prosecution of medical marijuana under the Obama administration.
Even so, marijuana reform legislation remains a tough sell in some places. In the South, for example, only Mississippi and North Carolina have decriminalization laws on the books.
“It’s a social and cultural thing,” said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based marijuana advocacy group. “There are some parts of the country where social attitudes are just a little more cautious and conservative.” Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, a Seattle Democrat who is sponsoring the legalization bill in Washington state, said that she “wanted to start a strong conversation about the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana.”
Under her bill, marijuana would be sold in Washington state’s 160 state-run liquor stores, and customers, 21 and older, would pay a tax of 15 percent per gram. The measure would dedicate most of the money raised for substance abuse prevention and treatment, which is facing potential cuts in the state budget. Dickerson said the measure could eventually bring in as much to state coffers as alcohol does, more than $300 million a year.
“Our state is facing a huge financial deficit and deficits are projected for a few more years,” Dickerson said, referring to the projected $2.6 billion hole lawmakers will need to fill next year. “We need to look at revenue and see what might be possible.”
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that tough economic times across the country have lawmakers looking at everything, and may lead even more states to eventually consider the potential tax value of pot.
Ron Brooks, president of the National Narcotics Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, said that he feared that, if legalized, marijuana would contribute to more highway accidents and deaths, as well as a potential increase in health care costs for those who smoke it.
State lawmakers, he said, need to ask themselves “if they believe we really will make all that revenue, and even if we did, will it be worth the suffering, the loss of opportunities, the chronic illness or death that would occur?”
Legalization isn’t the only measure lawmakers across the country are weighing. About two dozen states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin, are considering bills ranging from medical marijuana to decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, St. Pierre said. Washington state is among the states that are considering decriminalization, with a bill that would reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime with jail time to a civil infraction with a $100 penalty.
So, it would be legal, you could get it at the liquor store, but you could still get fined $100 for possession? I think somebody was smoking something when they wrote this legislation. No, I'm sure of it.
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"Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong." -Carl Sagan
Stash
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 07/08/08
Posts: 4522
Loc: State of Euphoria
Not too surprising. When I graduated from High School, a friend and I left after the all-night party and drove to Canada. After a few days of frivolity we came back. I had a bottle of whiskey in the trunk as a gift for my Dad. They found it. They dumped it out. They fined me $75 (a chunk of change in 1973) and we drove home. End of Story.
While not perfect, a $100 fine is much better than the current debacle.
_________________________ It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to. Jean-Luc Godard
Yeah, but that whiskey wasn't legal (I'm assuming that you weren't old enough to bring liquor into this state). If you were 25, and the liquor wasn't Cuban, and was otherwise legal, I don't think you would have been fined.
It just seems to me that most of the debate regarding legalization comes from those who wish to partake in legal, recreational drug use. Lots of red herrings, but that's what it's about.
We've come so far with smoking, I would hate to have it get to the point that when you walk into a store, you have to walk through a cloud of pot smoke, because it's legal, and when you ask the smoker to move 25 feet, you get the dirty looks and warm greeting because you're oppressing their freedoms. Of course, they don't fine the smokers, they fine the businesses for "allowing" the smoking to happen.
_________________________
"Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong." -Carl Sagan
Stash
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 07/08/08
Posts: 4522
Loc: State of Euphoria
It will be interesting to see how business deals with it. We have a drug and alcohol policy. If I have too much to drink on a Sunday night and on Tuesday or Wednesday my employer wants me to pee in a cup, I'll probably be ok and will surely not be under the influence. But, THC stays in the blood and urine for weeks.
While I'm a proponent of legalization or at least decriminalization, I think rules similar to alcohol need to apply. How those rules apply to minors and/or while driving and/or at work, etc. will be a challenge; but a challenge worthy of the effort.
_________________________ It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to. Jean-Luc Godard
MJ seems to be pretty low risk for users. From what I am told, less effect than alcohol.
And less effect than the more highly abused legal psychotropic drugs which millions of folks take to get through each day, so long as they pay the doctor, pharmaceutical manufacturer, and pharmacist. Yet it is against the law to grow a marijuana plant in the back yard for personal use.
It makes no sense.
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Strive for the ideal, but deal with what's real.
Bogus_bill
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 07/09/08
Posts: 2289
Loc: SMA Mexico
As a child of the 60's I inhaled. Imagine climbing a ladder to take a measurement, climbing down and then climbing back up to re-measure because your memory was non-existent. Imagine taking some time off from working on your car to join a friend in a doobie and then waking up the next morning with a car that ran out of gas overnight while it was still running because you forgot what you were doing.
All of that is a third of a century ago. I could live right next to a marijuana field and I would never sacrifice what little brains I have for that high again.
Potentially what we would be doing is encouraging use.
Realty is that illegal or not, there are certain people that will partake. We are not winning the war on drugs. Perhaps legalization accompanied with ongoing drug testing in the workplace would be a better way to tackle these problems. A paycheck is a major reason to resist. Mandating that all profits be fed right back into drug rehab programs might even make a little sense.
Quote:
From what I am told, less effect than alcohol.
From a workplace perspective they are a wash. From a social perspective I have never met a mean pothead. It is not much but that is a plus.
My concern is that marijuana usage would go up. I'm not in an uproar that it might be legalized. I just don't think it's a good idea, legal or not. Is it safer than alcohol? I'm sure that it is. I'm not a big fan of free-flowing alcohol either.
When it comes down to it, if someone is at home, getting high, not affecting anyone else, I don't care. If someone gets high and starts driving, I have an issue. Marijuana slows your reflexes to the point that it is not safe to drive. If they smoke pot in public, where I, not interested in getting high, get a contact high, I'm pissed. The same with alcohol. If you drink at home, and don't beat anybody up, or have a designated driver when you are at the bar pounding a few, fine. But once you get behind the wheel, as far as I'm concerned, you should lose your license immediately. You're not smart enough to drive. It is attempted manslaughter. You know that it's dangerous, but you proceed anyhow.
Yes, I know, all that bad stuff doesn't happen with pot, as we've seen...
_________________________
"Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong." -Carl Sagan
As a child of the 60's I inhaled. Imagine climbing a ladder to take a measurement, climbing down and then climbing back up to re-measure because your memory was non-existent. Imagine taking some time off from working on your car to join a friend in a doobie and then waking up the next morning with a car that ran out of gas overnight while it was still running because you forgot what you were doing.
All of that is a third of a century ago. I could live right next to a marijuana field and I would never sacrifice what little brains I have for that high again.
Potentially what we would be doing is encouraging use.
Realty is that illegal or not, there are certain people that will partake. We are not winning the war on drugs. Perhaps legalization accompanied with ongoing drug testing in the workplace would be a better way to tackle these problems. A paycheck is a major reason to resist. Mandating that all profits be fed right back into drug rehab programs might even make a little sense.
Quote:
From what I am told, less effect than alcohol.
From a workplace perspective they are a wash. From a social perspective I have never met a mean pothead. It is not much but that is a plus.
Like Thumper, I lean toward legalization.
I think there is probably some truth to the belief that usage will increase if it is legalized, but despite the fact that Vodka is legal, I haven't drank any for 25 years. I think the increase in use would be modest.
Additionally, there are a number of chronic illnesses for which it is an effective treatment, and the prohibition makes getting it prescribed a challenge.
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It is by having hands that man is the most intelligent of animals - Anaxagoras
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