Prohibition didn't work, or so lawmakers learned more than 80 years ago. But the parallels between America's experiment with the Eighteenth Amendment and the legal sale of marijuana likely end there. On July 8, Washington got into the weeds (pun intended). For some in law enforcement, jaded by trivial marijuana busts, it's a long-time coming. Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper, an advisory board member of the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, issued a sanguine prediction: "Washingtonians know that, as in Colorado, governments both foreign and domestic will be watching to see how legalization progresses in the state," he said. "And I imagine that, as in Colorado, lower crime rates, increased tax revenue, thousands of new jobs and continuing public support will indicate legalizing and regulating marijuana is one of the simplest ways to improve not just our criminal justice system, but our state governments generally." [continues 372 words]
POULSBO - As Poulsbo continues to grapple with last year's amendment to the Medical Use of Cannabis Act, which allows collective cannabis gardens but not dispensaries, Initiative 502 on the Nov. 6 ballot calls for legalization of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Collective gardens, which allows 45 plants or 72 ounces of "usable cannabis" per garden, are the only legal access points to medical marijuana in the state. Patients can grow up to 15 plants individually. Initiative 502 would legalize marijuana for recreational use for adults 21 and older; decriminalize production, distribution and possession; and tax sales from state-licensed stores. [continues 966 words]
POULSBO -- Poulsbo's new zoning and code ordinances are ready for public review. The city's Planning Commission began reviewing the ordinances in March, and after meeting 14 times, directed planning staff to revise the ordinance with their recommended changes. The zoning code review began after the City Council approved the updated Comprehensive Plan in 2009. City planning consultant Karla Boughton said the Comprehensive Plan is policy language; now they are at the implementation step. The zoning code was last updated in 2001. [continues 205 words]
POULSBO - Poulsbo City Council members say they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The council discussed the current moratorium on allowing collective gardens for growing medical cannabis Wednesday night. The moratorium was set in September to buy the council time to interpret the law and decide if collective gardens fit into the city's zoning code. Planning Director Barry Berezowsky said allowing collective gardens is not a zoning issue. "If someone is manufacturing meth that's not my issue - it's a police issue," Berezowsky said. "The question is whether the facility established meets the requirements of the zoning code and the building code." Agricultural zones are currently in place. [continues 199 words]
Forty-two state legislators from both parties have asked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to reclassify cannabis so that it can be used medically. Reclassification would enable states to establish laws for the regulation of medical cannabis without fear of reaction from federal enforcement agencies. In April, bowing to threats from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed most parts of a bill legalizing medical cannabis. A day earlier, as if to reinforce their message that U.S. marijuana law trumps state law, federal agents raided medical cannabis dispensaries in Washington state. [continues 338 words]
SUQUAMISH -- The shooting of Thomas Anthony Black on Dec. 8 was found justified by the Kitsap County Prosecutor's review of the investigation. The pathologist found a high amount of methamphetamine in Black's system, which he reported as a contributing factor of his death. Prosecutor Russell Hague released his memorandum Feb. 3 after reviewing the Sheriff Department's investigative report for nearly one month. Black, 44, was killed Dec. 8 when police attempted to serve an arrest warrant on Stacy Callihoo, 42, who was in the Black home. The warrant was issued by Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribal Court and being served by Port Gamble S'Klallam, Suquamish and Kitsap County Sheriff's officers. [continues 718 words]
POULSBO -- The Poulsbo City Council unanimously approved a moratorium on medical marijuana collective gardens Wednesday, in the midst of unclear laws and jurisdiction. The moratorium closes a loophole allowing medicinal cannabis in city limits. The council previously approved a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in March; that moratorium expires in mid-September. Mayor Becky Erickson said in an interview the moratorium approved this week continues to disallow dispensaries, which are illegal under state law. "What we're trying to do is figure out the pieces of the law as it comes out of the Legislature," she said. "It's not a clear direction what [the state] is intending local jurisdiction can do." [continues 531 words]
Bowing to threats from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed most parts of a bill legalizing medical cannabis on Friday. A day earlier, as if to reinforce their message that U.S. marijuana law trumps state law, federal agents raided medical cannabis dispensaries in Washington state. For medical cannabis to be legally available to those whose health would benefit from it, it's clear that federal law must be changed. Voters in 16 states have legalized medical cannabis. The Washington State Legislature approved a bill legalizing and regulating medical cannabis. But federal law doesn't distinguish between medical cannabis and recreational marijuana. And so, without a change in federal law, the conflict will continue. [continues 271 words]
POULSBO - Bill Austin, owner of the Hare & Hounds pub as well as other downtown properties, said he has licenses to sell alcohol and tobacco - legal substances that have long been the source of addiction, heartbreak and illness. And yet, people like Troy Barber, sitting in the audience at Wednesday's City Council meeting, are fighting to win people the right to access something that can help them - medical marijuana. The City Council decided Wednesday to keep in place its six-month moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, which it adopted March 16. [continues 514 words]
The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. United Nations drug stats: www.unodc.org Comparative analysis of U.S. vs. Dutch rates of drug use: www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm Marijuana arrest stats: www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/53 Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst-Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C. [end]
People have mixed reactions when they see or hear the words "legalize marijuana." To marijuana reform advocates, the implications are understood, but when these words fall on prohibitionist eyes and ears, they impart a fear of moral decay. These words are often interpreted as approving of, or advocating for the use of marijuana. This is simply not true. The phrase "legalize marijuana" is a clarion call to end prohibition on cannabis. When we hear the word "prohibition," we usually associate it with alcohol and the 18th Amendment. The connection that many people do not make is that we have been living under prohibition of cannabis in Washington state since 1923. [continues 440 words]
Back in 1975 when I lived in California, my Assemblyman John Vasconcellos and his fellow Democrats wanted to lighten the penalties for possessing small quantities of marijuana. (The lead author of the bill was Sen. George Moscone (D- San Francisco). It failed, thank goodness, thanks to the Republicans in the Assembly. At the time we were being assured that marijuana was no worse than smoking tobacco. But do two wrongs make a right? Major drug experts like Dr. Harden B. Jones, professor of medical physics and psychology at University of California, Berkeley, ((World Magazine, June 5, 1977) and Dr. D. Harvey Powelson, chief of the psychiatry department, of Cowell Memorial Hospital at UC Berkeley, since 1964 questioned its use and legalizing it. (San Jose Mercury-News (Sept. 9, 1971) Since then many of us have personally watched what the use of marijuana has done to our young people. It seems insane to want to support, in any way, something that is so harmful. [continues 120 words]
I am surprised that state Rep. Sherry Appleton would be ready to legalize marijuana when all she has are "ifs." "If it is commonly used, if billions of dollars are changing hands, if it isn't as harmful as the public's been led to believe, and a handful of otherwise law-abiding people are being prosecuted compared to the many who get away with it, marijuana should be legalized." First of all, since when are the first two "ifs" an appropriate rationale for legalizing a drug? Maybe we should make oxycontin an over-the-counter drug? [continues 222 words]
POULSBO - For Paul Bellesen, marijuana legalization isn't a clear cut question. "The verdict is out on it," said Bellesen, 50, of Poulsbo. "I can see where legalizing would get rid of some of the crime, but it's a complicated question." Still, Bellesen leans against completely abandoning the generations-old drug policy. "I just want to know more information about the pros and cons," he said of a Statehouse proposal to legalize marijuana co-sponsored by state Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo. "I'm probably against it at this point in time." [continues 585 words]
KINGSTON - Kevin Strozier, Kingston High School's girls basketball coach until his sudden resignation last month, was being investigated for allegations of drug use with students when he resigned from his post at the school, a district official said this week. North Kitsap School District Assistant Superintendent Chris Willits said Strozier was placed on administrative leave Nov. 10, two days before Strozier resigned, while the district investigated allegations he had used drugs with students. Strozier did not return messages left on his home and cell phones this week. [continues 417 words]
Hopefully the North Kitsap School District (Parents, schools take aim at drugs and alcohol, May 5) will avoid the most common reefer madness lies and mistakes which contribute to contempt for drug education and escalated hard drug addiction rates. Cannabis (marijuana) doesn't cause cancer since there are no dead bodies to show for it in over 5,000 years of documented use, while tobacco kills over 1,000 North Americans daily. Cannabis is less intoxicating than alcohol, less addictive than coffee and should be re-legalized. It's commendable helping youth resist alcohol, sex, drugs, coffee, driving and cannabis till they are older and responsible but caging responsible adults for using cannabis is the wrong way to do it. Truthfully, Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
POULSBO - Despite the idealistic environment the North Kitsap area offers, it's not immune to the dangers of drug/alcohol use by some of its children. In an attempt to help curb a problem hovering right beneath the surface, a drug and alcohol prevention information night for parents of North Kitsap School District students has been slated 6:30-8:30 p.m. May 9 in the North Kitsap Auditorium. Information about the types of drugs kids use, effects on the "teen brain", what to do and how to get help will be provided. [continues 380 words]
Dear meth heads, We regret to inform you that your presence here in North Kitsap is not only unnecessary but unwanted as well. Those among you who feel the need to rob, steal and do whatever you deem warranted to maintain your sad lifestyle are nothing more than a blight on our fine community. An ugly blemish on an otherwise beautiful face. The fact that you take advantage of your neighbors' trustworthiness is grounds for your relocation in our eyes. Your continued targeting of mom and pop shops shows that your values sunk below those accepted by the society you call "home." You obviously have no concept of that word or what it requires to give back. All you know is "take." [continues 211 words]
