Pubdate: Thu, 22 Jan 2009
Source: Stranger, The (Seattle, WA)
Copyright: 2009 The Stranger
Contact:  http://www.thestranger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2241
Author: Dominic Holden
Cited: King County Bar Association's Drug Policy Project 
http://www.kcba.org/druglaw/
Cited: ACLU of Washington's Drug Policy Project 
http://www.aclu-wa.org/issues/index.cfm?issue_id=11

POT'S SHOT

Marijuana Decriminalization Struggles in the Legislature

Twelve Democrats are cosponsoring a bill in the state house that 
would reduce the penalty for possessing up to 40 grams of marijuana 
to a civil infraction, subject to a $100 fine. It would only 
decriminalize marijuana possession, not legalize it. Introduced on 
January 14, this is the first legislative attempt to reform 
Washington's marijuana laws in decades. Under current state law, 
possessing even one joint is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

But does it stand a chance?

This seems an unlikely year for the legislature to embrace any 
civil-liberty-lovin' proposals, considering the top item on their 
agenda: bridging the state's $6 billion budget gap. However, the 
financial crisis may, paradoxically, prove a windfall. According to 
data from the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, the state 
would save $7.5 million a year by passing the law-a figure that's 
based on the 11,553 pot-possession arrests in Washington in 2007.

"I think any chances of passing will hinge on the opportunity to 
achieve budget savings and whether this proposal is less unpopular 
than other proposals for cost savings," says the bill's prime 
sponsor, Representative Dave Upthegrove (D-33). "Is it more 
controversial than closing parks?"

Upthegrove also hopes that, as a suburban representative, he gives 
the bill "a little political cover."

But the bill has already hit a roadblock.  Representative Christopher 
Hurst (D-31), a former narcotics officer and ex-cop who chairs the 
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee, refuses to give 
the bill a hearing. "I am concerned that [the bill] is in direct 
conflict with federal law," which makes possessing any quantity of 
marijuana a crime, he says. "If we tell citizens of Washington that 
marijuana is no longer a crime, and they cross the border and get 
arrested... or if they go out on their boat [and are arrested by the 
Coast Guard], they are not going to be happy with us."

However, it's unclear whether the federal government would bother 
prosecuting people for such a minor crime.  Even federal 
law-enforcement officers can treat possession of up to an ounce of 
marijuana as an infraction, rather than arresting and jailing an 
offender. And Representative Roger Goodman (D-45), an attorney and 
former head of the King County Bar Association's Drug Policy Project, 
says, "Federal law clearly allows the states to prescribe their own 
penalties, whether civil or criminal."

"Thirteen other states have already [decriminalized 
marijuana]"-including Massachusetts, where a measure similar to the 
one in the Washington State legislature passed a public vote in 
November by a 30-point margin-"and we haven't seen any of those other 
states struggle with [the] problem" of federal prosecution, says 
Alison Holcomb, director of the ACLU of Washington's Drug Policy 
Project. California has made possession of marijuana a civil 
infraction, and, like Washington, it also sits on an international 
border and has a coastline patrolled by federal agents.

Hurst says that if a companion bill passes in the state senate and 
comes to his committee, he will give it a hearing.

State senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36) says she'll introduce 
companion legislation within a week. But the bill faces an uphill 
battle in the senate, where it will have to get out of the judiciary 
committee. Three of the committee's eight members are Republicans and 
another member is conservative Democrat James Hargrove (D-24).

Meanwhile, no Republicans have cosponsored the current bill, making 
it a lefty long shot that could take years to pass, cosponsor 
Representative Brendan Williams (D-22, Olympia) acknowledges. Cal 
Anderson, Washington's first gay legislator, "used to be a voice in 
the wilderness on gay civil-rights issues," he says.  "You just keep 
plugging away and people start thinking in terms of the change." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake