Pubdate: Fri, 05 Oct 2012
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Page: 1
Copyright: 2012 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Jonathan Martin

POT FOES LACK ORGANIZATION, CASH

Election 2012

Even law-enforcement groups largely silent about initiative to 
legalize, tax marijuana

As one of the few public faces opposing marijuana legalization this 
year, Pat Slack has gotten hostile calls at home and work, calling 
him "Hitler," old and an idiot.

At a debate about Initiative 502 last month, he nearly lost his 
temper when a heckler interrupted him. "This is one of the reasons 
it's really hard to get people to come out and talk on this," Slack, 
head of the Snohomish County drug task force, told the heckler.

Just two weeks before ballots are mailed, it appears Slack will 
largely go it alone. State police groups and their allies in the 
drug-treatment community have not created a political committee to 
raise money or buy advertising.

Opposition is not a low-budget campaign; for law enforcement, it's a 
no budget campaign.

Police are not all sitting on the sidelines - a handful participate 
in debates - but the lack of organized opposition is notable against 
the well-funded I-502 campaign, with its big-name endorsers and 
recent $700,000 TV advertising buy.

King County Sheriff Steve Strachan, who announced his support for 
I-502 this week, thinks he knows why Washington cops are quiet.

"I can tell you, anecdotally, I'm not the only one who feels this 
way" in law enforcement, Strachan said. "One of the reasons you're 
not seeing a large, organized opposition is there are a lot of 
differences of opinion in the law-enforcement community."

His view is not universal: The Washington Association of Sheriffs and 
Police Chiefs voted last November to oppose I-502, fearing broadening 
drug use and easier access for youth. But that group, which has 
restrictions on its political activities, has stayed silent, and the 
Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs (WACOPS), which is not 
restricted, also has not weighed in.

Nor has the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, the 
Washington Education Association, the Association of Washington 
Business or other business groups.

WACOPS executive director Jamie Daniels said the group would discuss 
I-502 at its fall membership meeting in Chelan next week. But she 
said her group, which has 4,000 rankand-file members, has been more 
focused on races for governor, attorney general and Legislature.

"They haven't exactly been calling me on this," said Daniels.

The Washington Association for Substance Abuse & Violence Prevention 
opposes I-502, but its president, Derek Franklin, said energy from 
grass-roots volunteers was tapped out by last year's fight against 
liquor privatization.

And fundraising against I-502 is challenging because the initiative's 
heavy excise tax on marijuana sales -projected to raise $560 million 
- - earmarks funding for the same groups that traditionally would 
oppose drug legalization, he said.

On the other side, I-502 hit the $4.1 million mark for cash and 
in-kind donations this week, allowing it to buy a second round of TV 
ads aimed for late October. Prominent endorsers, including former 
state and federal law-enforcement officials, helped persuade 
newspapers in Seattle, Spokane, Vancouver and Olympia to endorse I-502.

Campaign manager Alison Holcomb said she anticipated organized 
opposition but is pleasantly surprised to find little, which she 
attributes to I-502's tight regulations, including a continued ban on 
marijuana possession for people under 21.

"Those of us who contributed to drafting I-502 are pleased to see 
that our efforts to address public safety and public health concerns 
have reassured traditional opponents of marijuana law reform," she said.

It hasn't been so elsewhere.

In the 2010 failed campaign to legalize marijuana in California, 
opponents funded by the California Police Chiefs Association, medical 
groups and beer distributors spent $338,000 and rallied newspaper 
editorial boards to oppose the measure..

In Colorado, a legalization measure on the November ballot has drawn 
an organized opposition campaign supported by the business community, 
including the Denver Chamber of Commerce, as well as law-enforcement 
groups, the Democratic governor and the teachers union. Police are 
particularly motivated by the lack of a driving-while stoned 
provision in the measure in Amendment 64, said No on 64 spokeswoman 
Laura Chapin.

"For the business community, it's a branding issue: 'Welcome to 
Colorado, the marijuana state,' " said Chapin. Her campaign has 
raised more than $295,000.

Slack, the Snohomish taskforce commander, said fundraising against 
I-502 is challenging. Unlike last year's record-setting campaign for 
- - and against - liquor privatization, there appear to be few business 
interests invested in I-502's passage or failure, he said.

"To fight something like this, where would the money come from?" 
Slack said. "People are looking at this the wrong way: They're 
looking at getting tax dollars out of this. They're not looking at 
the damage to our youth."

If there are commercial interests at stake, they are in the 
medical-marijuana industry. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most vocal 
opposition has been No on 502, organized by medical-marijuana 
entrepreneur Steve Sarich, which has raised $5,700.

His group opposes I-502 largely because - unlike Colorado's measure - 
it includes a DUI provision that medical-marijuana patients fear 
would effectively criminalize their driving.

"I'm surprised there's not any opposition from the anti marijuana 
community, including folks like Drug Free America," Sarich said.

Washington Lt. Gov. Brad Owen sits on the advisory board of the Drug 
Free America Foundation, and opposes I-502. But Owen is focused on a 
tight re-election race, said his spokesman, Brian Dirks.

Skagit County Sheriff Will Reichardt, who opposes I-502, disagrees 
with Strachan that police are divided on legalization and sees I-502 
as "just bad policy" that "sets the wrong message for youth." He 
recently debated former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper, a 
marijuana legalization advocate.

But Reichardt said he is too consumed with other issues, including 
the need for a new local jail, to focus on I-502.

"It's not the issue of the day for me," Reichardt said.

University of Washington political-science professor Matt Barreto 
noted I-502 has led in recent polls. But to hedge against 
complacency, I-502 backers should "be very wary" of a lack of 
opposition, and need to air a late campaign ad blitz, he said.

"When you're trying to change norms, you need a good justification," 
said Barreto. "Voters are reluctant on most initiatives: Do we want 
to change the law? When they don't have a lot of information, 
especially on something like this, they will lean toward no."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom