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Out in Washington state, a serious effort is underway to legalize marijuana, not just for people with a medical need, but for anyone over 21:
A coalition that includes former U.S. Attorney John McKay, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes and travel guide Rick Steves is launching an initiative that would legalize marijuana in Washington state.Washington's electoral laws are rather quirky; if they gather enough signatures, the bill would go to the legislature, which would have to either pass it or put it on the ballot as a voter initiative. This is a serious group of people who have thought carefully about how the law would work (there are details, along with infographics, here). Essentially, there would be regulation and taxation at every stage of the process, from the farm to the consumer.The problem for Washington is that even if the voters approve this initiative, they'll still be in violation of federal law. Back when Barack Obama took office, it was widely reported that the government would be taking a hands-off approach to marijuana where state laws allowed it, particularly for medicinal use (there were lots of articles like this one: "Under Obama, Drug War Tactics Poised to Shift.") Advocates of harm reduction were cheered when Obama appointed Gil Kerlikowske, a former Seattle police chief who said repeatedly that drugs are a public health problem and not something we need to wage "war" against, as the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, or "Drug Czar." Yet the DEA raids continued; in recent months they have raided medical marijuana dispensaries in California, and in one particularly provocative action, swept into dispensaries all across Montana on the same day as the state legislature was debating a repeal of the medical marijuana initiative passed there in 2004. When the city of Oakland was debating last year whether to license growing operations, the administration informed them that if they did so, the feds would move in and arrest the growers. In other words, for all the talk in early 2009 about an end to the "drug war," Barack Obama has basically continued George W. Bush's policies.So there's not yet any reason to think the administration would react differently to Washington state's law, were it to pass. What you'd then have is a showdown between the state and the federal government, with the feds possessed of ample power to essentially nullify Washington's law. Barack Obama always seemed sincere when he talked about the folly of the drug war. But in his administration's policies, this has been one more area in which he hasn't seen much percentage in following through on the principles he espoused. Perhaps it's because, in his ongoing quest to avoid looking like too much of a liberal, he's reluctant to do anything that looks like a favor to hippies. While around half the public supports marijuana legalization, Obama knows he won't get punished for maintaining the status quo. Meanwhile, Barney Frank and Ron Paul have introduced a bill to end the federal prohibition of marijuana and allow states to decide the issue for themselves. Its chances of passing are approximately zero.The group, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, decided to push the initiative this spring after Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed most of a medical-marijuana bill that had passed the state Legislature.
"We did some more public-opinion research, looked at the numbers and said, 'Yeah, this is the time,' " said Alison Holcomb, campaign manager for the initiative and drug-policy director of the ACLU of Washington.
The initiative would regulate the recreational use of marijuana in a way similar to how the state regulates alcohol.
