Search Results: washington-state (30)

Photo: KOMO News
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna thinks fighting health care reform is a states’ rights issue — but he seems completely unwilling to defend the state’s medical marijuana law against the feds

​When 15 Democratic lawmakers in the Washington Legislature on Monday asked state Attorney General Rob McKenna for his opinion on several cannabis-related issues, his non-response only proved that the long-winded AG is capable of blathering on meaninglessly for six pages without ever actually saying anything.

McKenna’s office released an informal opinion which, Chris Grygiel of the Seattle P.I. reports, “largely declined to answer the questions the legislators previous posed to him. Those centered around how the federal government, which does not recognize state medical cannabis laws, might react to changes in Washington’s rules.”

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Directory
Dispensaries already exist in at least King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, but if a new bill passes the Washington Legislature in 2011, they could operate statewide

​A bill which will protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and allow dispensaries has now passed both houses of the Washington Legislature, and will soon be headed for the Governor’s desk.

SB 5073 last month had already passed the Senate, and passed the Washington House late Monday afternoon on a 54-43 vote.
The bill clearly and unambiguously allows state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries. While some dispensaries are already operating, clarity in Washington’s law is expected to help protect dispensary operators from costly litigation and possible convictions.
In addition, SB 5073, as amended, protects all medical marijuana patients from arrest — not just those who register with the state. Currently, no patients are protected from arrest, as has been the case since Washington voters overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana in 1998.

Photo: 420List.org

​A bill that would have legalized marijuana in Washington state — supported by every state legislator from Seattle, as well as the city’s mayor, city attorney and several City Council members — is officially dead in Olympia, the state capitol.

House Bill 1550 didn’t even advance out of the relevant committees by Friday evening, a key cutoff date for the 2011 Legislature, reports Chris Grygiel at the Seattle P.I.
Sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle), the measure would legalize marijuana, have its sale regulated by the state Liquor Control Board, and impose a tax of 15 percent on cannabis.

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Directory
Dispensaries already exist in at least King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, but if SB 5073 passes the Washington Legislature in 2011, they could operate statewide

​Washington lawmakers are spending some time on cannabis this week, discussing both outright legalization as a source of revenue, and legalizing medical marijuana dispensaries to provide safe access for patients under the law approved by voters in 1998.

Supporters of a bill to legalize cannabis made a push to revive a measure they say would be worth $440 million in a two-year state budget cycle, reports Jim Camden at The Spokane Spokesman-Review. With a state budget deficit projected at more than $5 billion, that’s a more powerful argument than ever for legalization in the Evergreen State.
HB 1550, the legalization bill sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle), already had one hearing in the House Public Safety Committee, “where it attracted the usual list of supporters, who noted that some of the Founding Fathers grew hemp, and detractors who warned of growing usage by teens and drivers should marijuana become legal,” noted the Spokesman-Review.

Photo: The Stranger
Washington state Rep. Roger Goodman supports the legalization of marijuana. He is now running for U.S. Congress.

​Washington state Rep. Roger Goodman has announced he is seeking the Democratic Party nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (R), a two-term Congressman who represents Washington’s 8th Congressional District. Goodman supports the legalization of marijuana, and has an excellent track record as a drug policy reformer.

Goodman served as the executive director of the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission in the late 1990s and was elected to the National Association of Sentencing Commissions, reports Phillip Smith at Stop The Drug War. While with the state commission, he published reports on prison capacity and sentencing policy, helped increase the availability of drug treatment in prisons, and guided 14 other sentencing-related bills through the Washington Legislature.

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Directory
Dispensaries already exist in at least King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, but if a new bill passes the Washington Legislature in 2011, they could operate statewide

​State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles will introduce a bill in the Legislature this week which would permit medical marijuana dispensaries to open across Washington state.

Washington’s medical marijuana law doesn’t specifically allow dispensaries, reports Dominic Holden at The Stranger, but the shops are already proliferating in some areas, existing in a legal gray area that is yet to be sorted out.
Existing dispensaries — concentrated in the Seattle and Tacoma areas — often avoid drawing attention by inconspicuously setting up shop in industrial areas and office buildings (although I’ve personally been to more than one storefront dispensary in King County). If Kohl-Welles’s bill passes, though, the state Department of health would permit the shops to operate statewide as nonprofit corporations, likely resulting in more open advertising and more visibility.

Photo: The Edge Apartments
Man, that fountain would be a great way to cool off at Seattle Hempfest this August.

​Seattle Hempfest, the world’s largest pro-cannabis annual event, may be held underneath the Space Needle this year.

With the City of Seattle scheduling heavy construction this year in Myrtle Edwards Park, where Hempfest has been held for the past 15 years, the event’s promoters are currently in negotiation for a 20th Anniversary venue upgrade to Seattle Center, according to an internal email sent to supporters, members and VIPs.
“Such a move to the world renowned Seattle Center — home of the 1962 World’s Fair — would be a major step up for the visibility and legitimacy of our event (and movement, sponsors, etc.), and might attract media attention at the national level,” the Seattle Hempfest Membership Committee wrote in the email. (That “media attention at the national level” part just came true.)

Graphic: Reality Catcher
With the demise of I-1068, legalization won’t be happening until at least 2012 in Washington state.

​Sensible Washington, the group which tried to get marijuana legalized in Washington state through Initiative 1068, has fallen just short of the number of petition signatures it needed to get the measure on November’s ballot.

Friday was the deadline for submitting petition signatures to the Washington Secretary of State’s office, and campaign organizers said they will be several thousand names short of the roughly 241,000 needed, reports Andrew Garber at The Seattle Times.
The proposal would have eliminated penalties for persons 18 and older who cultivate, possess, transport, sell, or use marijuana.
Ballot measures in Washington need at least 241,153 valid signatures of registered state voters to make the ballot, and the Secretary of State’s office recommends at least 300,000 as a buffer, to allow for duplicate, illegible and ineligible signatures.

Graphic: Cannabis Culture

​Delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention endorsed I-1068, the marijuana legalization initiative, with an overwhelming 62 percent “Yes” vote, 314 to 185, on Saturday.

The executive board had given no recommendation on the initiative, because “the committee was even more split than the delegates,” said State Vice Chair Sharon Smith, reports Bryce McKay at PubliCola.
“We expected this to come to a floor discussion,” Smith said. “There are some things that are clearly Democratic Party values, and then there are things like this that aren’t so clear.”
These welcome signs of the Democratic Party growing a backbone when it comes to cannabis issues are encouraging; there’s definitely a whiff of change in the air.

Photo: NORML
Seattle Hempfest crowd at 2009’s event enjoys the beautiful setting and good vibes at Myrtle Edwards Park

​With unprecedented Pacific Northwest activity on the cannabis law reform front, and at the request of Hempfest supporters, the world’s largest marijuana event, Seattle Hempfest, is launching a new membership campaign to promote cannabis education and social networking throughout the year.

Prospective members are invited to the February 20 kickoff at Columbia City Theater in Seattle, the first of many events to socialize and discuss the latest in pot reform with local activists, attorneys and cannabusiness entrepreneurs.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
7:30 pm – 11 pm
4916 Rainier Avenue, South
Seattle, WA 98118
$25 and up membership purchase gains entry to this and all year-round Hempfest events
(21 and over)