A naturopath lost her license to practice medicine for two years for improperly doling out medical-marijuana authorizations at last year's Hempfest in Seattle.

If Carolyn Lee Bearss wants her credentials reinstated, she must also pay a $50,000 fine -- higher than the typical fine due to the egregiousness of the conduct, said Department of Health spokesman Tim Church.

The suspension order said her practice at Hempfest was an "assembly line" that "failed to meet the standard of care."

It was "designed to quickly move patients through, charge them money, give them their authorization, and get ready for the next one," Church said. "That's not how patients should be treated."

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Seattle - British Columbia's multibillion-dollar marijuana industry could take a "significant" blow now that two U.S. states -- including its closest neighbour to the south -- have voted to legalize marijuana.

The political consequences of the Washington State and Colorado referendums remain to be seen. In Seattle, advocates hailed the vote as a major breakthrough after decades of effort, although the U.S. Department of Justice could still intervene. In Canada, marijuana opponents proclaimed the beginning of the end for Ottawa's drug policies -- a view the federal Justice Ministry was quick to reject.

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Washington's grand social experiment with marijuana legalization begins Dec. 6 with a simple step: On that date, it is legal to have an ounce of the stuff, and there is little the federal government can do about it.

But how the state takes the next big step - transforming the marijuana black market into a closed, regulated and taxed marketplace - is unclear. And the federal government didn't help clarify its potential response on Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan, of Seattle, declined to answer questions about the conflict between the federal ban on marijuana and the new state law legalizing it for recreational use. A DOJ statement reminded voters that the federal ban "remains unchanged," and said the agency was reviewing the legalization measures, here and in Colorado.

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MUKILTEO -- People started coming into the medical marijuana co-op in Mukilteo on Election Day asking the same question: "Can I buy pot now?"

"There's obviously a bit of confusion," said Jeremy Kelsey, owner of the Medical Marijuana Patients Network.

His shop only sells to patients who have legal authorization from a doctor or naturopath to use marijuana for specific medical conditions.

The questions continued for Kelsey on Wednesday, the day after Washington voters approved Initiative 502, which taxes and legalizes the sale of an ounce or less of marijuana to anyone 21 years or older.

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Individual American voters overcame natural disasters and persevered standing in long lineups for hours this week just to make their voices heard, putting the 2012 presidential election into the history books.

Well, almost.

Not all of the votes have been counted here in the state of Washington, and the outcome of several key races will depend on late-arriving ballots over the next few days. We may not know the name of our next governor until tomorrow, or sometime next week.

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State Makes History As Voters Approve I-502

Washington enthusiastically leapt into history Tuesday, becoming the first state, with Colorado, to reject federal drug-control policy and legalize recreational marijuana use.

Initiative 502 was winning 55 to 45 percent, with support from more than half of Washington's counties, rural and urban.

The vote puts Washington and Colorado to the left of the Netherlands on marijuana law, and makes them the nexus of a new social experiment with uncertain consequences. National and international media watched as vote counts rolled into I-502's election-night party in Seattle amid jubilant cheers.

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MARIJUANA use is a serious, expensive and persistent challenge in our society. And it's time for a new approach. That's why I'm co-sponsoring Initiative 502 on the Nov. 6 ballot, which will legalize, tax and regulate marijuana, allowing adults 21 and over to buy up to one ounce from state-licensed stores.

Initiative 502 is not pro-pot. Rather, it's anti-prohibition. We believe that, like the laws that criminalized alcohol back in the 1930s, our current laws against marijuana use are causing more harm to our society than the drug itself.

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Federal Law Vs. State Law

I have yet to hear in all the endorsements for Initiative 502, the basic problem of federal law vs. state law. Medical marijuana has been legal in our state for a while now and it's a big mess because of the discrepancies in law.

I believe that we should get the medical side squared away before we jump into legalizing recreational use. I seriously doubt that all this tax money is going to be realized for us, due to it being a controlled substance at the federal level.

Nancy Roger, Langley

[end]

When a drug task force arrested an outspoken pro-marijuana student at WSU in 2011, it sent waves of fear through pot activists on campus.

Tyler Markwart, who had a prescription for the drug, said he was delivering marijuana to medical patients on campus and on the Palouse.

"I was producing and distributing high-quality medication at very low prices," said Markwart, who founded the nonprofit Allele Seeds Research Group and lobbied WSU leaders to begin growing the plant on campus for research. "But I wasn't just trying to set up a pot shop - I was trying to work gradually into it to see if I could get the support of the community behind me, so I started a delivery service."

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FOX ISLAND, Wash. - The campaign to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in Washington state for people at least 21 years old was designed for mainstream appeal. Start with its celebrity spokesman: public television travel star Rick Steves, who lives in Washington when he isn't foraging for truffle oil in Tuscany.

"He's got the khaki pants, the button-down shirt, slightly goofy," said Alison Holcomb, the campaign's director. "He's the guy who takes you to Europe."

"That's the fun of all this," Steves said. "If it was Snoop Dogg, it would be one thing. But it's Rick Steves. He's a nice guy. A businessman. We're saying this is not for kids. This is about civil liberties."

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In B.C. Passing Initiative 502 and legalizing marijuana could be one of the best ways to reduce gang violence in British Columbia, according to guest columnists Evan Wood and David Bratzer.

ARE you aware that passing Initiative 502 is one of the best ways to reduce international gang violence?

Like the violent cartels gripping Mexico, British Columbia is affected by the organized-crime groups which control its huge marijuana industry. These gangs produce and export BC Bud to American consumers, including the 6.8 million residents of Washington state.

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Legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in the state of Washington (Initiative 502) will boost crime, create an additional tax burden and place those who travel and reside here in perennial personal peril. The users and/or victims could be our children or grandchildren, neighbors, co-workers and friends.

The supporters' public safety education argument is disputable when one considers the annual death toll in alcohol-related accidents on our roads and highways. Are we really that naive to think by legalizing marijuana, there would be no consequence? The growers, producers and sellers - those on the supply side - are salivating for the lucrative and morally criminal profits. Will these be made at our loved ones' expense?

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Knezovich: Negative effects of pot underestimated by initiative backers

Many law enforcement and drug treatment professionals in Washington may oppose a ballot measure legalizing marijuana for adults. But that would be hard to guess from the campaign over Initiative 502.

Supporters of I-502 have raised more than $5.6 million and are running a full-fledged campaign for the controversial ballot measure. Some of their ads even feature former Seattle law enforcement officials endorsing the measure.

The only organized opposition to I-502 is small -- slightly more than $16,000 in total contributions -- with most money coming from individuals or companies with ties to medical marijuana.

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Opponents of Initiative 502 are making the argument that they don't want more people to smoke marijuana. Especially, not more teenagers. The argument is simple and wrong.

People already smoke marijuana. Teenagers smoke it. The law prohibits it and they do it.

Initiative 502 is about licensing, taxing and regulating marijuana for adults. It is about taking it out of the shadows, out of the hands of gangs and cartels, and into the hands of people who can be watched. People who have a business address. People who file tax returns.

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The majority of voters in Washington state understand that cannabis prohibition has failed. It's accomplished none of the intended goals (such as stopping youth usage), and it has continued to allow for the enrichment of criminal organizations. It's also continued to fill our prisons with nonviolent individuals.

Legalization and taxation is becoming the obvious answer to these problems.

Given this, it's no surprise that Initiative 502 has garnered a lot of support in the state. Unfortunately the core message of the initiative campaign - a message of legalization - doesn't correlate with the initiative language. Initiative 502 wouldn't legalize cannabis.

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Initiative 502 allows us to answer some simple questions regarding current policy on marijuana: Are our current marijuana laws working? Is their enforcement a good use of our police, prosecutors, judges, and jails? Are they reducing marijuana's availability and use, or increasing public safety?

We don't think so. One of us is a travel writer who spends a third of each year abroad and has had the opportunity to observe how other societies deal with marijuana use. The other has served as a state representative for eight years, focusing both on the well-being and education of children as well as criminal justice issues. Both of us have shepherded our own kids through the tricky teen years, and both of us agree that our marijuana laws need an overhaul. That is why we are voting yes on Initiative 502, and we encourage our fellow Washingtonians to do the same.

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I-502 Would Legalize Use, Define Impairment

Lack of Clear Answers Fuels Fight Over Measure

Under a clear blue Southern California sky, four editors of Car and Driver magazine stepped on a closed driving course and got, as they later wrote, "stoned back to the bomb age."

It was all for a good purpose. There was little convincing science showing how - or how much - marijuana impaired driving ability. So they did a field test.

The editors found that they could physically operate a car even while very high, and fared well on driving tests. But their attention spans got so fragmented that they agreed getting behind the wheel was a lousy idea.

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We've waged a war on drugs for decades. Sometimes the battle is worth it. That's not the case with marijuana. Voters should vote "yes" on Initiative 502 and license and regulate it instead.

The illegality of marijuana doesn't mean it's not available. Far from it. It is grown extensively and is readily available to those who want it. But, because it's "illegal," we waste millions of law-enforcement dollars trying to eradicate it, money that would be better spent stopping violent crime. It also means marijuana use is uncontrolled - and untaxed - by government.

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People Will Give You a Lot of Reasons to Vote to Legalize Pot on November 6, but You're Not Going to Hear Much About the One That Matters Most

I grew up near the edge of the Central District, and our house was at the top of a ridge, which served as a sort of racial dividing line. Houses on the eastern slope had spectacular views of the mountains and Lake Washington. They were expensive and their residents were all white. I can't recall a single black person who lived on that side of the hill. On the other side of the ridge, the houses' territorial views looked back into the gulch. With only scattered exceptions, those were all African American households.

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I am concerned about the growing push by some to legalize the use of marijuana in Washington.

I imagine there is some merit to the arguments in favor of such legalization but it would appear that, unlike what we hear from the proponents, the apparent grave dangers outweigh them by far.

The difference that seems apparent to me is that a person can have a drink and not be rendered under the influence.

Whereas some people who have smoked (or shared for that matter) one "joint" will begin the well known, almost uncontrollable laughter over anything and everything whether real or imagined.

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