WASHINGTON ONE OF FOUR STATES CONSIDERING BILLS

Proposed bill would legalize pot

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.