• I live in washington and have only grown a little for personal use. I have never made a dime from it. I have hoped for legalization for years. Us voters in wa state just took the state monopoly from liquor and gave it to the private sector. Why would we now vote for tbis? We have a wonderful med marijuana comunity and a seattle police force that doesnt focus on pot smokers. Our legal and underground growers grow the best weed in the world organically and very inexpensive. Someone compared the cost of pipe tobacco. This aint no pipe tobacco! But for the clean natural product itis there is nothing wrong with the cost. I have always been worried about government adding chemicals to my beloved smoke. To the guy posting over and over the same bs.....There are two bulls standing on a hill. The young bull says hey dad whataya say we run down there and fuck one of those cows..........you know the rest im sure. Who wrote this bill anyway????? It had nothing to do with NORML im sure but the government of wa state who needs to make their liquor (drug) money back. I would love to be able to vote for this but i say we walk down that hill and fuck all them cows. Just sounds like more big brother to me.

• VOTE NO ON I-502 BS LAW BY STUPID AZZ PEOPLE

• Blood to State power? What other point need be made? Seriously spits opinion, like it or not Hero. This will be made clear for you when 502 looses. 

• Yeah, Blow it out your dirty bong, Hero. You give your Blood to the STATE. Enjoy your slavery, city boy. 502 will lose, and you know it.

• 502 is bad law and will not Pass!

• It won't take away your right to drive.  It will actually improve driving restrictions, since the primary basis behind all laws persecuting marijuana consumers is the fraudulent marijuana prohibition and ensuant stigma.  -  Don't be fooled into voting against your own interest.  Medical marijuana patients will NEVER be free until we end the whole, counter-productive prohibition.

• You can't refute my points, so just make personal attacks.  Sorry.  That makes YOU the loser.

• The Mother Teresa of the MJ movment, Big Hero Reformer, believes himself important enough to speak for 99 percent. He then likes to vilify anyone who would dare to disagree.  What a loser, just like 502 and laws that would allow the STATE to take our BLOOD.

• well considering the state legislator has asked the DEA to lower the schedule of chronic it will prob make it to the ballot, and they did just lose liquor as state control... need to make up the money somehow

• wrong because the voter's will vote it down in Wa.  502 is death to patients F%&* the state and there dirty I 502 . I AM A PATIENT NOT A CRIMINAL , TAKE AWAY MY RT TO DRIVE F/U  it sux for you I vote 

• 99 percent of the MJ community IS united in ending the fraudulent prohibition.  You are just witnessing a very vociferous, tiny few - mostly comprised of greedy growers - trying to scare consumers into voting against their own interest - as happened to a small - but sufficient - degree in California's vote to re-legalize marijuana in 2010. They won't succeed this time.   Their numbers are insignificant.  Don't drink their Kool-Aid.

•  It would be nice if the MJ community would be united in getting the government to stop the Hitlerian persecution of over 850,000 Americans annually for their interaction with mj, instead of engaging in these stupid banal internecine mj civil war amongst themselves over the definition of legalization. You're a house divided and looks pathetic.  

• All rational observers know the truth of my statements.  Your feeble flaming just illuminates it more.

• The driving restrictions pale next to the significance of ending the persecution of millions of good Americans.  We already have some driving restrictions, and ANY initiative will include some to assure the public.   --  What will make ALL aspects of marijuana policy reasonable is to end the fraudulent marijuana prohibition.   Then driving restrictions will be much less than they are now. I-502 (and any re-legalization initiative) is very good law.

•  "THEY WANT TO TAKE OUR BLOOD!" Gee, they have vampires in Washington?

• Mÿ friëñd's ëx-wifë mâkës $42 höürlÿ öñ thë cömpütër. Shë hâs bëëñ withöüt wörk för 9 möñths büt lâst möñth hër pâÿchëck wâs $2208 jüst wörkiñg öñ thë cömpütër för â fëw höürs. Rëâd mörë öñ this sitë.... LazyCash10.c&#173om

• Hero Reformer wants More taxes and Regulation, this he calls, 'freedom'. Ron Paul for President! 502 is bad, Orwellian Law, and will not pass.

• And the way NOT to do ANYTHING is to give State Power to take your BLOOD on arrest. That is Way Bigger issue then pot all together. 502 is bad, Orwellian Law, and will not Pass.

• And the way we will cause the Federal Government to say so is to make a majority of the states say so.  It will happen fast after the first one breaks the ice.

• Marijuana will not be legal until the Federal Government says so, or is taken down. Until then... stay safe

• Your ignoring the significance of ending marijuana prohibition says it all. I-502 is the doorway to freedom.

• No.   It is not completely free and unregulated now.   Dispensaries and growers are being raided and shut down all the time.  Mostly, you ignore the incredible freeing of millions of marijuana consumers that will take place.  You must be another greedy grower. Speaking for the 30 to 50 million American consumers.  Yes.  We DO want taxes and regulation.  Those are the badges of our soon-to-be-returned freedom.

• I'm sorry, I was unaware that this bill would release millions of Americans from prison there for marijuana-related charges.  I am not a greedy grower, I am not a grower of any kind. I am simply against taking an unregulated, tax-free item (that is only illegal BECAUSE people sell it and it does not collect taxes) and giving it to the State of Washington to make millions off of it.

• Nonsense.  You ignore the incredible freeing of millions of marijuana consumers.  You must be another greedy grower.

• it is not legalization in terms of privatization, it is legalization in terms of complete state control -- something it is not currently. it is a disgrace and should fail come november

• Taxes and regulation come with freedom.  Sorry. There's NOTHING free  about the more than 800,000 innocent Americans who are arrested for simple marijuana possession each year and made PERMANENT second-class citizens for life. They will forever face huge obstacles to decent employment, education, housing, government benefits, and will always go into court with one strike against them. They can even have their CHILDREN taken away. 20 million Americans are now locked away in this very un-American sub-class.  Besides the monstrous injustice, it has a horrible effect on the whole country, being an incredible waste of human potential. 　 Further, the fraudulent prohibition causes vast amounts of crime, corruption, violence, death and the severe diminishment of EVERYONE'S freedom. There is NO domestic issue more important than ending what is essentially the American Inquisition.

• as just seen with liquor law being privatized people do NOT WANT state intervention. this bill would be remarkable if it was for PRIVATIZATION AND LEGALIZATION but it is just more STATE POLICE CONTROL

• make sure your dealer is a registered voter and not too f'd up to vote on election day

• so basically they want to take a completely free and unregulated product and turn it into a grossly taxed and completely controlled market. NO ONE WANTS TAXES AND REGULATION WE JUST WANT WEED

• so basically they want to take a completely free and unregulated product and turn it into a grossly taxed and completely controlled market. NO ONE WANTS TAXES AND REGULATION WE JUST WANT WEED

• Yeah, whatever Hero, you give them your Blood. Pigeon-holeing people with an ugly profile confirms you are a Nazi bitch.Big pathetic 'Reformer' 502 is bad law and will not pass.

• Your every word confirms my suspicions.

• Big Hero Reformer, jontomas Your assumption that anyone against 502 is a grower is pathetic, no matter how many time you write it.Give your growing advice to someone that cares, Hero.  THEY WANT TO TAKE OUR BLOOD! 502 is bad law and will not pass.

• You wish it was old.  It's spot on relevant all the way through November.  Marijuana consumers will not be tricked into voting against their interests again, as they were with California's Prop 19.  Your flaming is as lame as it gets.   Just make a new plan, Stan.  There will still be plenty of room for the small farmer if he makes his niche right.  Go 100%  organic.

• Your Greedy Grower line is old and tired and transparent. Doesn't do much for your cause either. You don't drive a car probably live in little city apartment and have no problem giving your BLOOD to STATE POWER. Bet your alll for TSA pats downs to keep us safe and so on, you are such a  Big Hero Reformer and blah blah, blow it out your bong buddy.502 is bad law and will not pass. 

• Nonsense and paranoia.  Passing I-502, like ANY re-legalization initiative, moves us MOST of the way down the road to total legalization.  It would be absolute foolishness for any reformer or marijuana consumer to vote against it. Don't listen to the nay-saying of greedy growers and dispensaries who have more in common with drug gangs and prohibitionists than with reformers and marijuana consumers!

•  the "INTENT" section of i502,:(3) Takes marijuana out of the hands of illegal drug organizations and brings it under a tightly regulated, state-licensed system similar to that for controlling hard alcohol. But it REALLY Says:  Takes marijuana out of the hands of the PEOPLE and put every plant, leaf, bud, seed, under CONTROL OF THE STATE and then, REGULATE THE (THC) OUT OF IT.  Decriminalization and Medicalization are the answers.  NOT Legalized State Run Schwag

• THEY WANT TO TAKE OUR BLOOD."5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood with a gross misdemeanor. "That level is NOT supported by science and would subject patients to highly-invasive blood testing, unnecessary confinement and a criminal conviction that will haunt them for life," the activists' website says. They're right that the science is minimal and some people could exceed that limit if they are regular medical-marijuana users."

• To greenjeans below: Sure it is.  So where did you get your big pile of money?

• Pitiful flaming act.  Too bad that's all you have since your arguments don't hold up.

• How desperately out of arguments you are.

• To greenie below: You are clearly out of arguments.  I'm not interested in your feeble flaming.

• So, since none of your points fly, you are now devoting yourself to flaming.  No thanks.  I'm just interested in the facts.

• Repetitive self-righteous contempt is a transparent tactic to tarnish anyone who does not agree.  And no if you look at the comments here, there is no consensus, as will be directly illustrated for you when 502, a very bad law, and will not pass.

• No.  I didn't "blow off" your objections.  I considered them, and then explained in detail why they are nowhere as near as important as gaining freedom from arrest for marijuana consumers.  And that passing I-502 is the quickest way to gain all the freedoms reformers want. The general consensus here seems to agree, and I suspect only greedy growers and dispensary operators are the ones who are loudly nay-saying.

• Big Hero jontomas- The objections we have to 502 are Mountains any you never have address them, you blew them off! 502 will not pass, and that is a good thing. Ever drive a car, city boy? We don't want to be pulled over and have our Blood tested. We will not vote for a law that calls itself legalization and is not. That has no provision for growing, 502 will not pass, and that is a good thing, it would be used to incarcerate and intimidate. Passing a law in enthusiastic ferver that ultimately be use against liberty, shades of the Patriot Act.Your tactic is to take a supposed moral high ground and vilify anyone who does't agree.And, Yes, a lot of us would like a real investigation into 911, Hero.

• I didn't say you were a moron.  I said that comparison was moronic, which it clearly is.  Some times people do silly things if they think it will give them an advantage and no one will call them on it. I've already refuted your few objections you're trying to make into mountains.  The clear trend for the last 16 years has been growing public support for reform and increasing success.  It's funny to watch you try to brush away that fact.  How you must long for a reform "9-11" event to knock reform off its trajectory.  How shameful.

• People have opinions about facts, Hero, that's how that works. Shut up with your ulterior motive crap Hero boy, it's a transparent tactic to vilify anyone who does not agree with you, Punk. Not everybody needs this so-called cash cow, but who wants to be pulled over, blood tested and given a DUI for smoking a week ago? There is no science of sense behind it!  502 is bad law and is will not pass.

• Wrong, Hero. Gypski@ is right-  "What a moronic trade off and the DUIC would carry a heavier fine, and associated costs like insurance rate increases, loss of work time., BS rehab classes and on and on.  I-502 is a pox on cannabis legalization"

• Gypski@ is right, Hero.  "What a moronic trade off and the DUIC would carry a heavier fine, and associated costs like insurance rate increases, loss of work time., BS rehab classes and on and on.  I-502 is a pox on cannabis legalization"

• DonSkaie is right, Hero. "502 isn't legalization and is full of problems you want everyone to turn a blind eye to. How about addressing that instead of trying to bulldoze everyone with your 'this is the way it is' fantasies?"

• Says the guy who does not drive a car, or care if Police and legally take our Blood! You might just earn that slavery you desire, Hero. 502 is a good start to more Police State!

• Shut up with your ulterior motive crap Hero boy. I could buy and sell your 'Real Reformer' ass over and over. This isn't about money. This is about 502 being a corrupt law that could leave cops taking your Blood. No growing, an ounce of state grown and sold weed is NOT LEAGALIZATION.

• Vetrean reformers! What a laugh! What ugly self-aggradizment! What a Hero you are!  See it your way or be worthlessly wrong, just like all fundamentalist zealots, right?You are so full of yourself and your cause that you'll vote for Bad law, knowing it's Bad Law.502 will not pass, we will not allow more legal Police State tools to be enacted. Real LEGALIZATION will happen, but that is not what 502 is, and it will not be our big Hero or short-sighted capitulate punks that grants it to us.

• This guy is for public mandates, state power, and cops taking your Blood. He sits in a little city apartment being right. Scrawny and punkish he can only be tough online. Freedom is growing, moron. Not begging master for a state grown and sold ounce.

• Keep laughing, Hero. You wouldn't call me a moron to my face. Just like all selfless, collectivist, True Believers, any opinion but his is dead wrong and dumb. Either with him or against him, sound familiar? Ain't that how they pass the Patriot Act? 502 is bad law and will not pass.502 is a seriously flawed bill. Bad law can actually set the movement back and become a legal tool, possibly expanded on, to further erode other parts of our liberty. That is what poorly written law does.  That is what the Patriot Act did, see it now Punk.  What cops pulling you over and taking Blood? You don't ever seem to address that? Do you even drive, or just sit in your city apartment being right? Hurl some more insults hero, your self-aggrandizement and zealot fundamentalism is on display.

• Bigdaddydavewpmhe You misinterpret when I speak of "some" greedy growers. I didn't say all growers are greedy. Indeed, there are many growers who fully support re-legalization - simply because it's the right thing to do. But there are a few greedy ones who don't want ANY change now - including ending marijuana prohibition. Somehow, they can live with the fact the extremely high prices are based on the persecution of millions of innocent Americans.  - After re-legalization, average quality marijuana will go for about $50 an ounce, plus taxes.  That's a huge drop in vendor income.   A few bad apples are to be expected in any large group. Unfortunately, these few are the loudest ones - shouting disinformation to scuttle any re-legalization efforts. I believe you when you say you are not like them, and certainly agree with all the benefits of marijuana you describe. I did not say ALL medical use is fraudulent, just that over half of dispensary customers are there for recreational purposes. I have no idea what the actual percentages are. No one does. I'm just going by what I read, hear and witness in the numerous dispensaries I have visited.  There's nothing wrong with that. The majority of the support for medical marijuana initiatives comes from people who just want to move marijuana as far as possible back towards its traditionally legal status.  So essentially, the people wanted marijuana stores, and they got them. OF COURSE, many of the customers, are indeed, legitimate medical patients. I'm well aware of all the various medical benefits of marijuana, and enjoy watching each report come out with new discoveries of how marijuana alleviates, and even cures, disease. I'm sorry you misunderstood my position. I, and all marijuana reformers and consumers, appreciate growers and dispensaries that provide this important medicine and healthy recreational drug - when they also fully support ending marijuana prohibition.

• jontomas- Have you ever grown for yourself? Have you ever had the experience of actually growing a crop that is good enough to be able to be passed on to people with cronic ailments? (or even a crop of bud that dosen't give you a HUGE headache when you smoke it because it is SWAG?) In reviewing your statements all along this post (and especially below this post) you obviously have NO CLUE how labor intensive, difficult and EXPENSIVE it is to grow a consistent crop of high quality or medical grade cannabis!!! I DO! I am one of your so called 'greedy growers. I AM NOT GREEDY AND I SURE AS HELL AM NOT GETTING RICH FROM IT!! I am in it to help other people, like myself, who suffer from a chronic illness, that cannabis does help give relief for. It takes a vast ammount of knowledge and expensive equipment and a safe large space just to start. F-U for saying that medical marijuana is a farce! Cannabis is a incredibly diverse medicine that is EXTREMLEY EFFECTIVE and not only in myself has it had a positive effect on my life and improved, greatly, my everyday quality of life but in MANY people that I personally know and have encountered in my travels during my 41yrs. In the RSO oil form, cannabis oil has shrunk cancer cells and turmors, IN RECENT SCIENTIFIC STUDYS, so, we possibly have had the cure for cancer all this time!! You and that NORMAL J>A are WRONG and your words are hurting sick and dying people and you need to shut the F UP! I am figuring that you-jontomas- are on the payroll for the special intrest group that is promoting and wrote I-502 and that you are bieng paid to bomb all these comments and blogs and who knows where else, with your devout line of support for a obviously BAD and CORRUPT bill! Just another example of the rich trying to get richer at the expense of the sick and dying. STOP THE DRUG WAR, FREE ALL DRUG RELATED PRISONERS AND LOOK UP JURY NULLIFICATION AND APPLY ITS CONCEPT TO SHOW THE LAWMAKERS AND JUDGES WHAT THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE OF WASHINGTON STATE IS!! VOTE NO ON I-502 IN IT'S CURRENT TERRIBLE FORM!! PRESS LIKE ON FB GROUP- CANNABIS DEFENSE COURTROOM SUPPORT LEGION AND SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CANNABIS DEFENDANT!!

• To gypski below: What a feeble attempt to trivialize the end of the persecution of millions of good Americans who prefer near harmless marijuana over addictive, very harmful alcohol.  The fraudulent marijuana prohibition and it's consequent "stigma" are the basis of all the police pursuit of marijuana consumers.  After re-legalization, police will not have much interest in pursuing drivers who only technically impaired.  It will be easy to show in court that little impairment actually existed. We will get home growing a lot faster with the success of I-502, than we would without it.

• Now you are reduced to flailing, faltering gambits.  Comparing my enthusiasm for ending the monstrous persecution of millions of good Americans who prefer near harmless marijuana over addictive, very harmful alcohol - to the evil glee of those who passed the police-state, freedom-devouring Patriot Act, is beyond ludicrous.   It's just pathetic. As I have repeatedly demonstrated, ANY re-legalization initiative moves us most of the way down the road to what all real marijuana reformers want - a system of regulation that is no more restrictive than that of more harmful alcohol.

• LOL!!  Comparing this re-legalization initiative with the Patriot Act.  That's simply moronic.  It was largely the fraudulent marijuana prohibition that conditioned the public to accept the even more outrageous surrender of freedom caused by the Patriot Act. I-502 will probably pass.  The only way it wouldn't is if, somehow, marijuana consumers were convinced to vote against their own best interest.   Hmmmmm......... Sounds like what you're trying to do. 

• 502 will not pass, and that is a good thing. You cannot convince me, an advocate for legalization, how do you think it'll pass?State run stores selling state grown grass ain't it, neither or DUI laws without basis in science or reality.No provision for growing. We'll get only what we demand for, and real Legalization is what we are taking about.Certainly not with half-truth, additional Police State powers, and True Believers willing to vote for ugly collusion. Don't you get the Patriot Act is used to take your liberty at the price of supposed Security? 502 is a suckers game.

• To greeenlv88 below: Nothing regarding marijuana policy escapes me.  It is clearly you who does not understand the significance of the first state(s) that re-legalizes marijuana.    Public support for ending the fraudulent prohibition has now passed 50 percent, nationwide.  It's near 60 percent in the Western states.  We are at the cusp of ending this horrific witch-hunt. Quite simply, the first success of a marijuana re-legalization intiative - here, or in any state,  will break the back of marijuana prohibition in the U.S. Those who don't see this are blind.  Those who won't admit to seeing this are despicable.

• Clearly you don't get it. ANY initiative will not do and in fact can be Corrupt- like 502. 502 is a seriously flawed bill. Bad law can actually set the movement back and become a legal tool, possibly expanded on, to further erode other parts of our liberty. That is what poorly written law does.  Calling yourself a 'Real reformer' is the same arrogance as the same tactic as the Patriot Act. It reveals your self aggrandizement, insular thought, and short-sightedness. See it your way or be worthlessly wrong, just like all fundamentalist zealots.

• You have accurate information and a valid viewpoint, I think. BUT your blind gusto is akin to the enthusiasm that passed the Patriot Act.502 is bad law-It is not Legalization-has no provision for growing-puts all the power in the hands of the government-limits sales and access to a state provided and grown ounce-creates a legal tool for them to test our blood -makes driving a legal -all possibly expanded on, to further erode other parts of our liberty. That is what poorly written law does. They want to take our Blood to test it?

• Opinions are what you need when you don't have the facts on your side.  But it's funny that you seem unable to discern mine.   Clearly, the success of ANY re-legalization initiative moves us the lions's share of the distance to what all REAL reformers want.   Most of the nay-saying comes from greedy growers and dispensaries who have more in common with drug gangs and prohibitionists than they do with marijuana reformers or consumers.  I've seen it all before with California's Prop 19.

• Pointless meandering.  You haven't refuted a single point I've made.  I've soundly refuted each of yours - several times. It is only the strength of the arguments that is important in these forums.  Better go do some working out.

• Perhaps you did not realize jontomas has it all figured out, his credentials so impressive, that he need not form his own opinion or utilize the ancient practice of critical thinking. "If you're voting yes on this bill you are either a) getting paid by supporters  b) some type of government that stands to make money once this passes, or c) a pharmaceutical company that would make millions if this passed.  Vote NO a million times! " Stretch420 is Right.

• Again your assumptions highlight your ignorance. I'm almost fifty, raised in the Seattle and Suburbs.  Wonder if you were at the first Seattle Hempfest, or when it was at Gasworks? Figure it out, you have no superior high ground, moral or otherwise on a lot of us.  Only how smart you think your and are and how willing you are to endorse a short sighted bad law that sells its self as, 'Legalization' and is not. In fact it sets up a legal framework to further erode other parts of our liberty.  502 is bad law and Suckers bait.  Bad law can actually set the movement back and become a legal tool, possibly expanded on. That is what poorly written law does.  Blind devotion and yes-master capitulation will grant you the slavery you earn.

• You're right!  With the crazy shifting of political winds, we have no idea how big our window of opportunity is.  Further, it's becoming obvious that, increasingly, the people's will counts for less and less.   Witness Obama laughing at the number one question (re marijuana legalization)  - EVERY TIME - in his on-line public forums.  We need to exercise our vote, and end marijuana prohibition while we still can. And thanks for reminding us - the West coast is NOT a seperate country.  What we do here affects the whole country, and the oppression other states experience affects us tremendously. Let's hurry up and end this monstrous witch hunt ASAP!

• An initial worry I have is that if Washington rejects this bill and current enforcement is conducted along its same trajectory that the movement will be set back substantially. The Fed is already getting tougher as well all know and Washington passing the bill is a grand statement that will demand further national debate. To not pass it only reinforces the Fed efforts to destroy what we are building. We all know the facts and science are on our side. We all understand it should be a right for all citizens to have fair access to the plant. Passing the bill takes the entire nation a step closer to that freedom, despite having some (very) negative provisions. The only thing more negative than those provisions are to not pass the bill in the first place.

• <b>"It frees marijuana consumers from arrest simply for marijuana. "</b> Free from arrest for possession but not from DUIC.  What a moronic trade off and the DUIC would carry a heavier fine, and associated costs like insurance rate increases, loss of work time., BS rehab classes and on and on.  I-502 is a pox on cannabis legalization because legalization would allow for home grown up to a few lbs just like home brewing 250 gallons of beer or wine.

• russian ganja news variation via Steve Elliott :) merci! Cannabis Nature News: США, Легализация марихуаны внесена в вашингтонский избирательный бюллетень / USA, Marijuana Legalization Qualifies For Washington Ballot http://cannabisnature.com/news/marijuana_legalize_qualifies_4_washington_ballot/2012-01-30-257

• >>>"Where's the freedom when you can't grow your own." How myopic.  The freedom, of course, is marijuana consumers will no longer be subject to arrest and criminal records.  It's amazing how some overlook that HUGE fact.  See Guest's comment below.   Further, this initiative takes NOTHING away from medical marijuana consumers or recreational consumers.  It only gives A LOT.   So, don't worry.  You will get your home growing, and likely very soon.  In fact, you'll probably get it a lot sooner than you would if this initiative doesn't pass.  Take your head out of the sand. - And don't attempt to tell me what I should or shouldn't comment on.

• jontomas  take a look at your quote, "But at whatever "worst" case system of distribution, any adjustment pain is worth ending the horrific persecution of millions of good Americans, ending the drug gang violence, ending the corruption, and ending the diminishment of EVERYONE'S freedom. " That last part about ending the diminishment of everyones freedom,  what a load of crap.  By saying yes to this bill you're diminishing EVERYONE'S freedom just a little more.  Where's the freedom when you can't grow your own.  Where's the freedom when you can only have an ounce at a time.  What if I live out in the sticks and never want to go into town.  So i have to come back every other week and get another crappy ounce?  And you know it's gonna be the crappiest dirt weed out there.  They lost their liquor now they're looking for something else to monopolize on. If you're voting yes on this bill you are either a) getting paid by supporters  b) some type of government that stands to make money once this passes, or c) a pharmaceutical company that would make millions if this passed.  Vote NO a million times!   jontomas   i noticed that you reply to everyone elses quotes, but have none of your own.    Post a comment about how YOU feel about the article, not about what someone else has to say. That being said, I think Steve did a great job laying out all the flaws in this bill.  Very informative and educational.  I think its great that an initiative made it to the ballots, but this is not the one.  We'll wait for the next bill.  It's only another year.  We've waited for years before this, so what's the big deal if we wait and gather more support?

• I'm hoping Washington voters get behind this bill, flaws and all. There are folks (myself included) in other parts of the country that live under much harsher conditions. We are looking to Washington, Colorado and California, etc. to keep kicking the door in. While the bill is not perfect, we go to jail without a blink from the law and Washington has the opportunity to open the national debate even more. The bill can be adjusted in the future and it will undergo many transformations as progress is made. I understand the desire to grow and the troublesome DUI feature, but these freedoms go well beyond what many others experience around the country. Keep in mind that the voting is for more than Washington. I truly hope Washington supports this bill and adjusts it later. It would be a tremendous victory as outsiders hope it gets done.

• To LC below: Nonsense.  Marijuana reform is a process, not a leap.

• It is amazing how some "reformers" demand their own "pure" initiative, with their heads totally in the sand about politics.  The initiative designers had no other purpose in these restrictions other than making it politically palatable to the public.  It continues to amaze me that some think this initiative will carve marijuana policy in stone.  It's just the first big step in a process. Once the first state passes a re-legalization initiative, we break prohibition's back and enter a whole new paradigm.  It's incredible how some balk at going through the door to freedom. - Waiting for the "perfect" initiative just gets you dead.

• You can't see the forest for the trees.  I've been intensely involved with marijuana reform since 1996.  I know that any legalization initiative moves us the lion's share of the distance to what all real reformers want.  Once one state passes a re-legalization initiative, it breaks the back of the fraudulent prohibition, and it's all over but the shouting. This is so clear to all veteran reformers, that if any naysayers really don't believe it, they are simply deluded.

• Jontomas- Your ugly assumptions show your Ignorance. Calling anyone a criminal IS a personal attack. Money is no motivating factor for me, I have skills and own a business. My fathers cancer brought the issue into focus for our family. 502 is a seriously flawed bill. Bad law can actually set the movement back and become a legal tool, possibly expanded on, to further erode other parts of our liberty. That is what poorly written law does. They want to take our Blood to test it? Even the use of the word 'Legalization' highly questionable in the context of 502. Seems very much in concert with the Orwellian concept of a two-faced control paradigm, to me. You can buy and ounce, but you cannot grow one? So it is worth dialoging the issue in a forum such as this. But I have yet to see you discuss anything here, you seem very interested in being right and vitriolic. I agree with 'Lillilives' get therapy, and when she says-  'You can't help others or the movement if you don't help yourself.' She is right. And LC who said- "I'm with Greenlv88. I am FOR legalization of marijuana, therefore I am NOT for this bill!" He is right.

• I'm with Greenlv88. I am FOR legalization of marijuana, therefore I am NOT for this bill!

• If we WILL be able to home grow, then why make sure to add a provision to this bill that specifically makes sure to point out we cannot? It would be like everyone agreeing to go forth with the SOPA bill and then just "work out the kinks of it" once it's already passed. That makes no sense. It is idiotic to accept anything that you are not sure can get changed once passed. You keep saying we will just change it after but that is a big assumption to make. If the part of not being able to grow it in your own home is such a big deal of this bill, than it needs to be changed BEFORE it's passed! That's the only way we know we're safe. Plus you have to think...WHY are they making sure to add the provision that you can't grow it in your own home? What is the purpose of adding that? What are they hoping to accomplish by not allowing that? 

• NOT a plant for the government to be controlling!

• If it is illegal to grow marijuana than marijuana is not legal! Plain & simple!

• I don't agree. There are a ton of unknown things that could be the result of this bill. Laws against growing could have way harsher penalties than we have now, for all we know. It is not a perfect bill but if we were to pass this into law it will make it infinitely possible for there to ever be TRUE freedom in the cannabis world.  I do NOT want the only place that I am able to buy pot to be some government approved only place. Since when has the government done anything good? They need to stay out of! Full legalization or nothing! Do not vote partial freedom! Do not accept anything less than full freedom! That is what we deserve and our God-given right. If we pass this, they win!

• To greenie below: No personal attack.  It just always turns out that people who attack legalization initiatives do so to protect their golden goose.  There's no other reason. People who betray marijuana reform are very much on topic. We've already discussed your "concerns" over the growing and driving provisions, and have found them lacking.   All real marijuana reformers will vote for I-502.

• Where do you imagine I have made an unprovoked personal attack?  So you try to distract from real debate as well, eh?  It figures.

• Look at you talking about personal attacks! But it's OK when you do it?Sure it isn't the actual duplicity of this proposed law that attracts you?

• What? You attack me personally as I am talking on Topic, accusing me of an ulterior motive? Pathetic. How bout limiting yourself to speaking on Topic? So you- Have no problem calling something 'Legalization', when it is controlled administration at best? Have no problem with a law that would allow, your admitted Police State, to take your blood? Have no problem with a law that says you can buy an ounce but cannot grow one?

• A 5 nano drive limit equals, no ounce on your dashboard You'll be jailed like anybody drinking a 40 in their car. How do you not get that?

• Wrong.  You are trying to take people's eyes off the prize of re-legalization - for some ulterior motive.

• I expressed an opinion on topic,  you attack me personally, and from a weak collectivist view.Pathetic. This is a controlled and tactical move to make short-sighted, liberty-starved people become compliant as they consent to a law that would allow them to be jailed for smoking a week ago!!! Creating grand new revenue stream and legal control mechanism. 502 dui will give them legal tools to lock you up with more ease then today.

• Nonsense.  Any and every re-legalization effort will move us FAR down the road to what we all want (except fot the greedy growers and dispensaries, of course).

• >>>"you sound like you need therapy in addition to whatever meds you take."　 Wow. Here we go with the personal attacks instead of trying to respond to points made. >>>"Displays of constant naysaying,rage, and hopelessness are classic signs of major depression." Where have I done any of that? You are simply avoiding debate with personal attacks. Shame on you. >>>"As far as medical marijuana being a dead end, watch what is happening at UC Berkeley with the studies of ongoing radioactive exposure studies among Californians from Fukushima waste products." I was speaking as a dead-end for the marijuana reform movement. As marijuana becomes more and "medicalized," it will be increasingly restricted from recreational use. This is unacceptable and hurts medical patients in the end. We have seen how the feds are slowly squeezing medical marijuana patients and programs out of existence. Their goal is to only allow patented derivatives to a very narrow range of patients. You are helping them in this oppression. The salient fact is, marijuana is not addictive and FAR less harmful than alcohol. As such, it's the FAR safer alternative to alcohol. Medical marijuana has always been a side issue.

• Wrong. Supporting this '...incomplete and imperfect..', law is to be comply to be that Frog in the bucket. This is a controlled and tactical move to make short-sighted, liberty-starved people become compliant as they consent to a law that would allow them to be jailed for smoking a week ago!!!  Creating grand new revenue stream and legal control mechanism. 502 dui will give them legal tools to lock you up with more ease then today. We are on our way to a real Police State, look at this weeks deployment of the TSA and VIRP. Teams around the US, now at bus stations, train, roads, and so on?  Arm these Nazi's with 502 like laws and see if that don't kill your buzz!They will test our Blood?NO on 502.

• The issue of the legalization of medical marijuana will never go away. There are too many people that understand how beneficial it is and will not settle for substandard chemical meds. One judge will kick it and a new measure will be introduced.This will happen continuously until the proper legislation is passed. Naysayers can whine and suffer but these plants will get grown and consumed. It is inevitable. These plants were here before man. They'll be here after man is gone. Jontomas you sound like you need therapy in addition to whatever meds you take. Displays of constant naysaying,rage, and hopelessness are classic signs of major depression. You can't help others or the movement if you don't help yourself. As far as medical marijuana being a dead end, watch what is happening at UC Berkeley with  the studies of ongoing radioactive exposure studies among Californians from Fukushima waste products. More widespread exposure to radiation means more widespread instances of cancer.This legislative push will be just the beginning for the West Coast of the United States.

• To DonSkakie (below) >>>"If you can buy it in a store but cannot grow it on your own IT'S NOT LEGALIZATION"　 To most people it is. Your standards - especially for the first ever legalization initiative are impossibly high. Again, we will adjust policy to allow for home growing very soon after re-legalizing. In the same mannter, we will adjust the driving restrictions to ones that are reasonable and appropriate. Even in the meantime, there will be little motivation for police to pursue "technically" only impairment once marijuana is re-legalized. The courts will probably fix these nonsensical standards faster than the initiative process will. It will be easy to prove lack of impairment. >>>""It frees marijuana consumers from arrest simply for marijuana." Unless you have more than an ounce." For right now, an ounce is more than plenty. How long does an ounce last you? Of course, this will also be changed eventually. If people can have cellars full of wine, there's no reason they shouldn't have as much marijuana as they want. >>>[me]" It moves marijuana reform FAR down the road to what we ALL want"--- of course it does, that's why there is NO dissent on these points." You're becoming incoherent. You agree with me here, then..... >>>"You speak for yourself, not "all" of us." Didn't you just say, "of course it does?"   hmmmmm.....　 >>>"the many I have visited make effort to ensure that only authorized patients are served."　 Of course they are "authorized," but most are there primarily for the high.　 >>>"I can say that the patients I know have issues and benefit from cannabis and are looking for that relief, not simply to get high."　 I doubt it. I have been to numerous dispensaries, and it's obvious from watching the customers and listening to the conversations with the bud tenders they are primarly interested in the high. There's nothing wrong with that, but we need to recognize reality. The rest of your post is just personal attack and denigration - not worth responding to. -- Again, your hysterical efforts to paint 502 as somehow carving mariuana policy in stone forever (obviously not true) seems to be a desperate attempt to protect your outrageous profits built on the suffering of millions of good Americans. If so, get your greedy #@^$% out of the way and let freedom happen! 　

• If you can buy it in a store but cannot grow it on your own IT'S NOT LEGALIZATION. It's not that the driving regulations are stricter than I would like, its that they have NO BASIS IN SCIENCE. No one wants to be on the road with impaired drivers so we need to know when drivers are impaired. 5ng is not a consistent, reliable indicator of impairment in the way that .08 is for BAC. Let's pass a law that proves impairment based in science. "It frees marijuana consumers from arrest simply for marijuana." Unless you have more than an ounce. You have to be out or buy less than an ounce or risk arrest, so IT'S NOT LEGALIZATION. " It moves marijuana reform FAR down the road to what we ALL want"- of course it does, that's why there is NO dissent on these points. Get a clue. You speak for yourself, not "all" of us. Many agree with you, many do not. Please stop injecting your views as those of others that have not said you speak for them. "Are you REALLY trying to maintain more than half of all dispensary customers are primarily there for medical purposes?" Yes. I have not examined every access points in WA and doubt you have either and wonder if you have ever been in one at all. I can say that the many I have visited make effort to ensure that only authorized patients are served. I can say that the patients I know have issues and benefit from cannabis and are looking for that relief, not simply to get high. What I did ask was that you point to any evidence that backs up your 'pick a percentage out of the air' number that you have stated. Cite sources and provide links please, or you're just blowing wind. To accept what you say on it's face is to say that there is a huge number of those authorizing that do not respect the law or patients. If that were evident, Law Enforcement would act on it and we would see it in the news just as we do with the multitude of cannabis impaired drivers under the current laws. (not) "All of reform leadership now acknowledges it is time to vote for any and every marijuana legalization initiative." Obviously not true. You can bluster and BS all you like but it doesn't make you right just as  I-502 isn't legalization and is full of problems you want everyone to turn a blind eye to. How about addressing that instead of trying to bulldoze everyone with your 'this is the way it is' fantasies? If you are satisfied with I-502 as legalization, you must either be ignorant of what the cannabis reform movement is trying to accomplish, or an attorney, LEO or anyone else that stands to profit off those arrested in connection with this plant. I look forward to reviewing your 'facts' and sources. Accepting I-502 as the be all and end all of legalization will only get you arrested.

• If you can buy it in a store but cannot grow it on your own IT'S NOT LEGALIZATION. It's not that the driving regulations are stricter than I would like, its that they have NO BASIS IN SCIENCE. No one wants to be on the road with impaired drivers so we need to know when drivers are impaired. 5ng is not a consistent, reliable indicator of impairment in the way that .08 is for BAC. Let's pass a law that proves impairment based in science. "It frees marijuana consumers from arrest simply for marijuana." Unless you have more than an ounce. You have to be out or buy less than an ounce or risk arrest, so IT'S NOT LEGALIZATION. " It moves marijuana reform FAR down the road to what we ALL want"- of course it does, that's why there is NO dissent on these points. Get a clue. You speak for yourself, not "all" of us. Many agree with you, many do not. Please stop injecting your views as those of others that have not said you speak for them. "Are you REALLY trying to maintain more than half of all dispensary customers are primarily there for medical purposes?" Yes. I have not examined every access points in WA and doubt you have either and wonder if you have ever been in one at all. I can say that the many I have visited make effort to ensure that only authorized patients are served. I can say that the patients I know have issues and benefit from cannabis and are looking for that relief, not simply to get high. What I did ask was that you point to any evidence that backs up your 'pick a percentage out of the air' number that you have stated. Cite sources and provide links please, or you're just blowing wind. To accept what you say on it's face is to say that there is a huge number of those authorizing that do not respect the law or patients. If that were evident, Law Enforcement would act on it and we would see it in the news just as we do with the multitude of cannabis impaired drivers under the current laws. (not) "All of reform leadership now acknowledges it is time to vote for any and every marijuana legalization initiative." Obviously not true. You can bluster and BS all you like but it doesn't make you right just as  I-502 isn't legalization and is full of problems you want everyone to turn a blind eye to. How about addressing that instead of trying to bulldoze everyone with your 'this is the way it is' fantasies? If you are satisfied with I-502 as legalization, you must either be ignorant of what the cannabis reform movement is trying to accomplish, or an attorney, LEO or anyone else that stands to profit off those arrested in connection with this plant. I look forward to reviewing your 'facts' and sources. Accepting I-502 as the be all and end all of legalization will only get you arrested.

• Look beyond tomorrow! Regardless of what hoops and rules the first states impose on marijuana legalization,it will evolve as more Americans become acquainted with the lady,,,,she convinced you of her safety and therapeutic properties,,do YOU think you are so much smarter or gifted than the rest of America?

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