news
Pot
continued from page 1
marijuana for recreational purposes in such
a way, though some have decriminalized it,
and the initiative would put Washington
squarely at odds with federal law banning
necessary to help ensure that people don’t
buy large amounts for resale in other states,
she said.
The bill would not allow for the recre-
Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican,
in law enforcement or a medical provider, you
look at the data and you come to the same
conclusion: The war on drugs has failed
the drug.
The legislation would set limits on how
much cannabis people can have: an ounce
of dried bud, 16 ounces of marijuana-
infused foods in solid form, and 72 ounces
of marijuana-infused liquids, or all three,
said Alison Holcomb, drug policy director
of the ACLU of Washington. The limits are
ational growing of marijuana; it would be
up to the state’s Liquor Control Board to
license grow operations and set limits for
how large they can be. The measure would
not affect the rights of medical marijuana
patients in Washington, who are allowed to
have at least 24 ounces and 15 plants, and
more if needed.
Activists would have until the end of this
year to gather more than 240,000 signatures
to get the initiative before the Legislature.
Lawmakers will have a chance to
approve it or allow it to go to the ballot.
Taxing marijuana sales would bring the
state $215 million a year, conservatively
estimated, Holmes said.
Another group, Sensible Washington, is
already pushing a legalization initiative this
year that would remove all state criminal
and civil penalties for marijuana use, pos-
session and cultivation in any amount. Their
effort is an initiative directly to the voters,
meaning that if it qualifies for the
November ballot and passes, it would
become law without any input from the
Legislature.
Sensible Washington failed to gather
enough signatures to make the ballot last
year, and Seattle medical marijuana attor-
ney Douglas Hiatt, who leads the effort,
said Tuesday he did not know whether their
measure would qualify this year. Hiatt criti-
cized the approach of the ACLU-led effort,
saying it wouldn’t allow Eastern
Washington’s farmers to grow hemp or real-
ly end prohibition at all. Furthermore, he
said, the blood test limit for driving under
the influence purposes - 5 nanograms of
active THC per milliliter of blood - are so
strict that most medical marijuana patients
would fail even if they hadn’t recently med-
icated.
Last year in California, voters rejected
Proposition 19, which would have allowed
for personal possession and growing of lim-
ited amounts of marijuana, 54 percent to 46
hip hop
continued from page 3
every state in the U.S. and in every nation in
the global community to demand more
“progressive” change. There are strong
winds of repression now blowing from
those who want to deny the future advance-
ment of humanity. 2012 is fast approaching
in the United States and the Tea Party is
gearing up to take America backward.
HSAN along with the Hip-Hop Caucus and
other organizations will have to mobilize
once again. The Democratic National
Committee (DNC) and the Republican
National Committee should both be chal-
lenged to ensure a large youth voter turnout
in 2012. If we have learned anything dur-
ing the past 10 years, it is that all of us
should be willing to give more and do more
to insure freedom, justice, equality, and
empowerment for all.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is Senior
Advisor for the Black Alliance for
Educational Options (BAEO) and President
of Education Online Services Corporation.
per-
cent.
In
tele-
phone
interview from Idaho,
where he was about to leave on a six-day
rafting trip on the Salmon River, McKay
said he has long considered marijuana pro-
hibition a failed policy, but that as U.S.
attorney his job was to enforce federal law,
and he had no problem doing so. Among the
people he prosecuted was Canada’s so-
called “Prince of Pot,” Marc Emery, who
fought extradition after his 2005 arrest but
eventually was sentenced to five years in
prison for selling millions of marijuana
seeds to U.S. residents.
“When you look at alcohol prohibition, it
took the states to say, `This policy is
wrong,’” McKay said. “This bill might not
be perfect, but it’s a good step forward. I
think it will eventually shame Congress into
action.”
Holmes said McKay’s involvement in the
legalization effort helps demonstrate its sen-
sibility.
“Whether you are a Democrat or a
Republican, in law enforcement or a med-
ical provider, you look at the data and you
come to the same conclusion: The war on
drugs has failed,” he said.
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