New Approach Washington |
Former U.S. Attorney John McKay is among the sponsors of a drive to legalize marijuana for adults in Washington state. |
New Approach Washington |
Former U.S. Attorney John McKay is among the sponsors of a drive to legalize marijuana for adults in Washington state. |
Photo: Douglas Hiatt |
Douglas Hiatt: “It is not legalization, and it is going to criminalize patients in this state” |
The New Approach Washington initiative, which has gained financial support and big backers for relaxing Washington state’s marijuana laws, is not real cannabis legalization, according to Seattle-based activist/attorney Douglas Hiatt of Sensible Washington.
There’s a new move afoot to legalize cannabis in Washington state. The newly formed political action committee New Approach Washington on Wednesday filed an initiative to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in the state. Sponsoring the measure are prominent civic leaders, along with members of the public health and legal communities.
Tuesday marked one of the best of times for marijuana reform in the nation’s capital of Washington D.C., and one of the worst of times.
It truly seemed to be a tale of two cities yesterday as the local District council voted 10-1 to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of weed, while right across town federal U.S. lawmakers were battling with the Chief Deputy of the DEA over anti-weed talking points as tired as most of the cranky old men arguing.
President Barrack Obama thinks Colorado and Washington are blazing a trail with marijuana legalization the rest of the nation should consider, telling the New Yorker that racial disparity in marijuana arrests need to end.
“It’s important for it to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished,” Obama told the New Yorker.
Michael Saffioti. |
Last year, 22-year-old Michael Saffioti had a warrant out for a misdemeanor pot charge in Washington state. Despite having severe allergies and asthma, Saffioti turned himself in and turned over his life to jailers who let him die from an allergic reaction to his breakfast despite knowing full well of his condition.
At the time, the state denied pressing any criminal charges against anyone in his death because there wasn’t enough evidence. But a new video turned up by KIRO 7 in Seattle shows Saffioti questioning what he was being fed to guards who had medical files on him.
M.V. Jantzen/DCist |
Real Screen |
Morgan Freeman is narrator for “Breaking the Taboo,” a brand new documentary which examines the failed global War On Drugs |
Zach’s Soap Reviews |
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, makers of the top-selling natural brand of soap in the United States, announced on Friday a new donation of $100,000 to voter initiatives in Colorado and Washington state that would tax and regulate cannabis. The company’s new donation to the Campaign to Tax and Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, sponsoring Amendment 64 in Colorado, was $75,000, and the donation to New Approach Washington, sponsoring Initiative 502 in Washington, was $25,000.
No On I-502 |