Pubdate: Tue, 09 Oct 2012
Source: Yakima Herald-Republic (WA)
Copyright: 2012 Yakima Herald-Republic
Contact:  http://www.yakima-herald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/511
Author: Dan Catchpole

YAKIMA CHAMBER FORUM AIRS BOTH SIDES OF MARIJUANA INITIATIVE

YAKIMA, Wash. - Depending on who you ask, Initiative 502 will either 
sap drug cartels of their lifeblood, do away with draconian drug 
policies and create a new revenue source for the state. Or it will 
open floodgates in schools and communities to a harmful drug.

The initiative, which is on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general 
election, would legalize recreational use of marijuana in Washington. 
It would not affect federal laws, which would still consider 
marijuana to be illegal.

"This is not a measure that proposes using marijuana is a good 
thing," said Alison Holcomb, campaign director for New Approach Washington.

The group is leading the fight to pass I-502, which needs a simple 
majority of yes votes to pass. New Approach Washington raised more 
than $4.8 million and spent $2.8 million by early October. Three 
polls - two by SurveyUSA and one by Seattle-based Elway Poll - in the 
past month show the initiative has 50 percent to 57 percent support 
among respondents.

But David Rolfe, executive director of Safe Yakima Valley, is 
confident that voters will reject the measure on Election Day.

"I think people will look long and hard at their ballots, and say, 
'Do I really want to legalize a harmful drugUKP' " he said.

Holcomb and Rolfe spoke, respectively, for and against the measure at 
a forum held by the Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

Laws against marijuana are ineffective and encourage reckless use and 
crime, Holcomb said. Criminalizing it empowers drug dealers and 
penalizes otherwise law-abiding and responsible recreational users, 
Holcomb said.

"This isn't a pro-pot initiative. This is an anti-crime initiative," 
she said in an interview after the event.

It is also a liberty issue, said Alex Newhouse, a Sunnyside lawyer 
and volunteer for New Approach Washington. "Adults over 21 can make 
decisions about alcohol and cigarettes. They should be able to make 
decisions on marijuana."

The measure would legalize possession of marijuana for adults age 21 
and older. Private stores would be regulated by the state, and could 
not be located near schools, playgrounds or parks.

Selling to people younger than 21 would be a felony.

Legalizing - and taxing - marijuana sales could be a windfall for 
state coffers, according to a study by the state Office of Financial 
Management.

The study, which was released in August, said tax revenue could be as 
much as $1.9 billion in five years.

But the analysis included a big asterisk. Revenues could be 
nonexistent, if the threat of raids and prosecution by the federal 
government prevents the development of a functioning marijuana market.

If I-502 does pass, it earmarks money for the state's basic health 
plan and drug research.

Nonetheless, the measure will put communities and children at risk, 
Rolfe said. "This is about making a harmful drug more accessible to our state."

It is a simple business issue, he said. "Whenever you make a product 
more available and more affordable, consumption rises."

Holcomb and Rolfe agree that marijuana has harmful health 
consequences, but disagree about how best to address the issue.

I-502 supporters say that just as Prohibition helped give rise to 
gangsters like Al Capone and organized crime, the illegal marijuana 
trade is a steady source of income for drug cartels and gangs.

By legalizing marijuana, those criminals will lose their "bread and 
butter," just as the end of Prohibition left bootleggers without a 
market, Holcomb said.

But the effects of legalizing marijuana in Washington are overstated; 
the cartels won't crumble, Rolfe said. "They're amazingly 
sophisticated and business savvy."

Instead, organized crime will simply target users younger than 21 and 
push harder drugs, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom