December 12, 2012
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Page 17
Marijuana Turns Legal in Washington
Crowds
celebrate;
selling drug is
still outlawed
(A P) - The crow ds o f happy
people lighting jo in ts under Seattle's
Space N eedle early T hursday m o rn
ing w ith nary a police officer in sight
bespoke the new reality: M arijuana
is legal under W ashington state law.
H u n d red s g a th e re d at S eattle
C enter for a N ew Y ear's E ve-style
countdow n to 12 a.m ., w hen the
legalization m easure passed by v o t
ers last m onth took effect. W hen the
c lo c k stru c k , th ey c h e e re d and
sparked up in unison.
A few dozen people gathered on
a sidew alk outside the north Seattle
h e a d q u a r te r s o f th e a n n u a l
H em pfest celebration and did the
sam e, offering jo in ts to reporters
and blow ing sm oke into television
new s cam eras.
"I feel like a kid in a candy sto re !"
shouted H em pfest volunteer D arby
H agem an. "It's all becom ing real
now !"
W ashington and C olorado b e
cam e the first states to vote to d e
crim inalize and regulate the p o sses
sion o f an ounce o r less o f m arij uana
by adults over 21. B oth m easures
call for setting up state licensing
schem es for pot grow ers, pro ces
sors and retail stores. C olorado's
law is set to take effect by Jan. 5.
T echnically, W ashington's new
m arijuana law still forbids sm oking
pot in public, w hich rem ains pun-
uary rarrisn smoKes marijuana in a glass pipe just after midnight on Thursday during a celebration
by advocates of the drug at the Space Needle in Seattle. While possession of marijuana has
became legal in Washington, the new law does prohibit public use of marijuana. (AP Photo)
ishable by a fine, like drinking in baked, ord er som e pizzas and enjoy
public. B ut pot fans w anted a party, a 'Lord o f the R ings' m arathon in the
and Seattle police w eren't about to privacy o f your ow n hom e, if you
w rite them any tickets.
w ant to."
T he Seattle Police D epartm ent
He offered a catchy new directive
told its 1,300 officers on W ednes- re fe rrin g to th e film "T he B ig
day, ju st before legalization took Lebow ski," popular with many mari-
hold, that until fu rth er notice they ju a n a fans: "The D ude abides, and
shall not issue citations for public says 'take it inside!'"
m arijuana use.
"This is a big day because all o u r
O fficers will be advising people lives w e've been living under the
not to sm o k e in p u b lic , p o lic e iron curtain o f prohibition," said
spokesm an Jonah S pangenthal-L ee H em pfest director V ivian M cPeak.
w rote on the SPD B lotter. "The po- "The w hole w orld sees that prohibi-
lice departm ent believes that, under tion ju s t took a body blow ."
state law, you m ay responsibly get
W ash in g to n 's new law d ecrim i-
n a liz e s p o sse ssio n o f up to an
o u n c e fo r th o se o v e r 21, bu t fo r
now sellin g m a riju a n a re m a in s il-
leg al. 1-502 g iv e s th e sta te a y e a r
to c o m e up w ith a sy ste m o f sta te -
lic e n se d g ro w e rs, p ro c e sso rs an d
re ta il sto re s, w ith th e m a riju a n a
ta x ed 25 p e rc e n t at e ac h stag e ,
A n a ly sts h av e e stim a te d th a t a
le g a l p o t m a rk e t c o u ld b rin g
W ash in g to n h u n d re d s o f m illio n s
o f d o lla rs a y e a r in new tax re v -
en u e fo r sc h o o ls, h e a lth c are an d
b a sic g o v e rn m e n t fu n c tio n s,
But m arijuana rem ains illegal
under federal law. T hat m eans fed-
eral agents can still arrest people for
it, and it's banned from federal pro p
erties, including m ilitary b ases and
national parks.
T he Justice D epartm ent has not
said w hether it w ill sue to try to
blo ck the regulatory sch em es in
W ashington and C olorado from tak
ing effect.
"The departm ent's resp o n sib il
ity to enforce the C o n tro lled S u b
stances Act rem ains unchanged,"
said a statem ent issued by the S e
attle U.S. attorney's office. "N either
states n o r the ex ecu tiv e branch can
nullify a statute passed by C o n
g re ss."
T he legal question is w h ether the
establishm ent o f a regulated m ari
ju a n a m arket w ould "frustrate the
purpose" o f the federal pot p ro h ib i
tion, and m any constitutional law
scholars say it very likely w ould.
T hat leaves the political q u e s
tion o f w hether the ad m in istration
w ants to try to b lo ck the reg ulatory
system , even though it w ould re
m ain legal to p ossess up to an ounce
o f m arij uana.
A liso n H o lc o m b is the d ru g
p o lic y d ire c to r o f th e A m e ric a n
C iv il L ib erties U n io n o f W a s h in g
to n a n d se rv e d as the c a m p a ig n
m a n ag e r for N ew A p p ro ach W ash
in g to n , w h ich led the le g a liz a tio n
d riv e . S he said th e v o te rs c le a rly
sh o w e d th e y 're d o n e w ith m a ri
ju a n a p ro h ib itio n .
"N ew A p p ro a c h W a s h in g to n
sponsors and the A C L U look fo r
w ard to w orking w ith state and fed
eral officials and to ensure the law is
fully and fairly im plem ented," she
said.
Dreams Come True in Old Town
Service center and affordable housing opens
The Macdonald Center will provide support services for low-income people and 42
units of affordable housing for the working poor in the Old Town community.
The M acdonald C enter hosted a grand
opening celebration on T hursday to c o m
m em orate the com pletion and opening o f the
seven-story M acdonald W est, an com plex
to provide an expanded service hub for the
c e n te r’s outreach and support services for
low -incom e individuals and 42 units o f a f
fordable housing for the w orking p o o r in die
O ld T ow n com m unity.
T he support o f the com m unity, the city,
the cou n ty , and the state d u rin g a very
difficult econom ic clim ate, co m b in ed w ith
M acdonald C en ter’s loyal donors o v er the
past 20 years, provided the resources and
energy to m ake this project a reality.
LRS A rchitects and H ow ard S. W right
have lead the design and construction team s
for w hat will becom e safe and secure h o u s
ing fo r the w orking poor. The studio ap art
m ents w ill provide affordable housing for
low -w age w orkers earning up to 6 0 percent
o f area m edian incom e.
T he capital cam paign to raise the rem aining
funds for the project - Building a M ore C o n
nected C om m unity - h a s also achieved a m ajor
m ilestone with nearly $ 12 million raised for the
construction costs and a program investm ent
fund. M ajor contributors to date include M eyer
M em orial Trust, H E D C O Foundation, Ann
and Bill Swindells Charitable Trust, The Collins
Foundation and a bequest from M aybelle
C lark M acdonald.
T h e G r a n d O p e n in g C e r e m o n y ,
M acdonald W est: W here D ream s C om e True,
celeb rated the history o f the b u ild in g site,
including the 106 year old W est H otel and
m usic venue legend, the S atyricon, as w ell as
the positive m om entum and bright future o f
the C en ter and O ld T ow n C hinatow n C o m
m unity.
T h e M acdonald C en ter is a n o n -profit
lead er in p roviding outreach, housing and
supportive services to v ulnerable adults and
sen io rs.