Pubdate: Wed, 11 Mar 2015
Source: Seattle Weekly (WA)
Column: Higher Ground
Copyright: 2015 Village Voice Media
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http://www.seattleweekly.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters
Website: http://www.seattleweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/410
Author: Michael A. Stusser

WEED IN THE ROSE GARDEN

Every single day there's breaking news in the marijuana movement. 
Alaska officially legalized weed on February 24, making it the fourth 
state in the Union to toss aside the chains of prohibition, and the 
next day, at the stroke of midnight, our nation's capital, 
Washington, D.C., followed suit. #CommanderInSpleef!

But if ya think the "Just Say No" Nancy Reagan types are gently 
stepping aside, and the taxation and regulation of cannabis are going 
along swimmingly, you've been smoking too much of the recently 
legalized chronic.

In the District of Columbia, an hour before the city officially made 
recreational ganja legal, Republicans in the House of Representatives 
tossed a little fear-mongering into the mix.

"You can go to prison for this," Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) told 
The Washington Post-and the citizens of D.C. who overwhelmingly 
approved the initiative. "We're not playing a little game here."

Reps. Chaffetz and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) sent a memorandum to D.C. 
Mayor Muriel Bowser, threatening that if the city chose to move 
forward with pot in the District, "you will be doing so in knowing 
and willful violation of the law." The right-wing reps were trying to 
nullify legalization-and the will of the people-through riders they'd 
previously attached to the unrelated trillion-dollar Congressional 
spending bill.

The letter went on to demand that Bowser create a list of all D.C. 
employees who participated in the enactment of the ballot measure, 
fork over their timecards, and share their salaries, apparently in an 
effort to create a sort of Green List. Joe McCarthy would be so proud.

Bowser's no pushover (hell, in D.C., mayors often smoke crack just to 
deal with the toughness of their constituents); she let the world 
know she would do what more than 70 percent of her residents made 
clear they wanted when they passed the measure last summer. "My 
Administration is committed to upholding the will of DC voters," she 
tweeted. "We will implement Initiative 71 in a thoughtful, responsible way."

Police Chief Cathy Lanier is also on board, telling the American News 
Women's Club, "All those [marijuana] arrests do is make people hate 
us." She added, "Marijuana smokers are not going to attack and kill a 
cop. They just want to get a bag of chips and relax. Alcohol is a 
much bigger problem."

D.C.'s decriminalization law is a particularly big deal because of 
the massive racial biases behind marijuana arrests in the city. 
According to the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and 
Urban Affairs, nine out of 10 people arrested for drug offenses in 
D.C. between 2009 and 2012 were black. And while blacks make up 
slightly more than half of the city's population, surveys show 
they're no more likely than whites to use marijuana. The craziest 
fact of all, according to The Washington Post: White folks are more 
likely than any other race to be selling drugs. Let's just say it 
loud and clear: The War on Drugs is a war on black Americans.

Beyond that, the new D.C. law is largely symbolic, as sales of any 
kind are not allowed (which also means they won't be collecting any 
of those sweet tax dollars). Individuals are allowed to possess and 
cultivate up to six plants, but only three can be budding in the 
government's backyard at a time. District residents can't fire up on 
federal land (yes, that means the Lincoln Memorial), in bars or 
restaurants, or in public housing. Medical marijuana is allowed (it 
was passed in D.C. in 2010), and if you're feeling particularly 
generous, you can "gift" an ounce to friends, family, and fellow 
residents, so long as they're over 21. ("Mr. Speaker, I hereby offer 
this peace-doobie to break the gridlock . . . ")

The road to national legalization will be paved with setbacks, scare 
tactics, and a social conversation about what it means to be high. As 
with moonshine, civil rights, and same-sex marriage, we'll have to 
tinker a bit to get it right. Nebraska and Oklahoma are taking 
Colorado to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming legalization is causing 
massive drug-enforcement problems, with too many pickups full of 
Denver ganja entering their backyards. Last week all nine former DEA 
heads joined the brief. It points to red state/blue state 
differences, and serves as yet another reminder that, yes, marijuana 
is still illegal at the federal level.

But in a sign that we can all get along, a man walked into the Sixth 
District police station in D.C. last Monday and asked for his 
previously seized weed back. (He'd been arrested for a charge 
unrelated to drugs, and, along with a belt and a wallet, had his 
stash taken during processing.) As possession of two ounces or less 
is fully legal, an officer gave him his baggie of marijuana. 
Progress, apparently, comes in small doses.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom