Pubdate: Sun, 07 Oct 2012
Source: Herald, The (Everett, WA)
Copyright: 2012 The Daily Herald Co.
Contact:  http://www.heraldnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/190
Author: Sharon Salyer

Initiative 502

MARIJUANA AT A TIPPING POINT

In an election season when political statements seem laundered and 
starched and issues carefully calibrated with the "finger in the 
wind" test, one ballot measure has attracted one of the most unlikely 
collections of political bedfellows in state history.

Initiative 502 would allow people 21 and older to buy an ounce of 
marijuana from stores regulated and licensed by the state, where it 
would be taxed at 25 percent.

Who would have thought that one of the leading proponents for the 
initiative would be John McKay, a former U.S. attorney who prosecuted 
major marijuana cases during his tenure?

Other supporters lack the tie-dyed shirts and Grateful Dead image 
often associated with the drug: a Spokane Baptist minister, a Seattle 
rabbi, the nonprofit Children's Alliance in Seattle, international 
travel guru Rick Steves of Edmonds, a former FBI agent and a 
candidate for King County sheriff.

For those who are opposed, one might well expect Pat Slack, commander 
of the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force, to be an articulate and 
persuasive voice. He's participated in many discussions of the issue, 
including a televised public forum in Mukilteo and a debate at a 
University of Washington lecture hall packed with 300 attentive students.

Who would guess that he would find himself on the same side of the 
issue, though for different reasons, as Jeremy Kelsey, a 34-year-old 
owner of medical marijuana co-op in Mukilteo?

Even if the initiative doesn't pass in November, McKay said he hopes 
such efforts will help bring pressure to change legal policies toward 
marijuana. The federal government currently classifies pot as a 
Schedule 1 drug, the same category as cocaine and heroin.

Slack, who has worked for 43 years in law enforcement, seems to shake 
his head in wonder at the prospect of not only Washington, but also 
Oregon and Colorado considering marijuana legalization efforts on the 
November ballot.

"Is this a freaking race?" he asks. "I don't know if you want to be 
the first out the door to accomplish this."

* * *

IMarijuana has a complex, controversial and polarizing history. It 
was characterized as a villainous drug in the 1936 movie, "Reefer 
Madness." Legalization proponents refer to it as "humanity's medicine."

In 1998, state voters jumped into the political cauldron, approving 
an initiative allowing doctors, osteopaths and naturopaths to 
authorize use of marijuana for terminal or debilitating conditions, 
including cancer, glaucoma and severe pain.

"It's been kind of a long evolution," said Diane Hoffmann, a 
professor at the University of Maryland's law school. She has studied 
the provisions of 17 cities or states that have passed medical 
marijuana laws, beginning with California in 1996.

With its Schedule 1 listing, the federal government considers the 
drug to have no medical value, she said. Yet some studies have shown 
that it potentially has therapeutic benefit, such as helping to 
stimulate appetite to combat the severe weight loss sometimes caused 
by HIV, and for reducing the nausea and vomiting often experienced by 
chemotherapy patients, she said.

Washington's law allowing authorizations of marijuana for medical 
purposes can be used as a legal defense, but does not provide carte 
blanche protection from investigations and other law enforcement actions.

Federal authorities have stepped in numerous times to shut down 
dispensaries in Washington and other states they feel may be doing 
more recreational dealing than medicating.

Last month, they sent letters to 23 medical marijuana dispensaries in 
Seattle, saying that any businesses within 1,000 feet of schools or 
playgrounds must shut down within 30 days.

Heath care providers have come under scrutiny, too.

In August, the state Department of Health announced that two King 
County naturopathic physicians face charges of providing sub-standard 
care for treating more than 200 patients seeking medical marijuana 
during Seattle's 2011 Hempfest.

Local law enforcement officials are trying to be respectful of people 
who have medical marijuana authorizations, Slack said.

But it can be difficult to navigate who is and who isn't complying 
with the law, raising questions such as: Can multiple medical 
marijuana co-ops exist in one location?

"I grew up in a world of law enforcement where they had a pretty 
bright line: If you have dope, you have a problem," Slack said. "All 
we in law enforcement want is for someone to tell us what the law is."

Passage of Initiative 502 he predicted, would be a nightmare for law 
enforcement officials.

But Slack said he also worries about the impact it would have on 
youth, since anyone 20 and younger could still be arrested for pot.

"Who's most negatively impacted by being arrested for possession? Our 
youth," he said. "It impacts their ability to get jobs and get 
college funding. Initiative 502 doesn't do anything for them -- nothing."

* * *

Jeremy Kelsey runs the Medical Marijuana Patients Network out of an 
office in a two-story industrial building just off the Mukilteo 
Speedway and overlooking Paine Field.

The co-op stocks up to 20 varieties of bud with names such as 
"lavender X train wreck" and "Mr. Nice."

The dried marijuana leaves are stored on shelves in large glass 
containers, much like bulk herbs in a co-op grocery. He politely 
corrects those who ask how much it costs.

It's a donation, he says.

Nevertheless, he requests a donation of about $240 per ounce.

The co-op also offers marijuana to qualifying patients in a variety 
of other forms, including salves, drinks, lollipops and even 
marijuana-infused cotton candy.

Kelsey said he takes pride in running the co-op both in accordance 
with state law and in providing quality products to patients. His 
shop was declared the gold cup winner for medical marijuana 
collectives in Washington by what may turn out to be the industry 
magazine, "High Times," during a recent expo in Seattle.

Kelsey said he favors decriminalization of marijuana, what he calls 
"freeing the plant," but does not support Initiative 502.

"The problem is, they're putting the cart before the horse," he said. 
The first step, he said, needs to be federal reclassification, moving 
marijuana out of the same category with cocaine and heroin.

Many local governments have problems coming to terms with collective 
gardens allowed under the state's current medical marijuana law, he said.

Since federal law bans possession, manufacture and distribution of 
marijuana, he said he doubts federal law enforcement officials would 
simply allow the state do as it pleases -- legalizing limited, open 
purchase of marijuana for recreational use.

"The fact is, they don't have a letter from the feds saying they'll 
be in agreement not to shut them down," he said. Even if the 
initiative passes, the issue could be tied up in the courts for 
years, Kelsey said.

He questions where all the marijuana would come from to stock the 
state-licensed stores.

Will there be standards, regulations, guidelines -- even agricultural 
subsidies, as farmers get now?

While the vote on the initiative might be close, Kelsey predicts it won't pass.

Some people have compared the initiative to the ending of 
Prohibition, Kelsey said.

"It's not. It's different."

* * *

It's hard not to wonder: What was the pivotal moment? What was it 
that triggered John McKay's pendulum shift from federal enforcer of 
marijuana laws, to outspoken critic, to endorsing an initiative to 
legalize it in Washington?

"I was sworn to uphold the law," he says. "I could enforce the law 
again. It's just a dumb law."

McKay served as U.S. attorney from 2001 to 2007. He currently is on 
the faculty at Seattle University's law school.

Despite the best efforts of law enforcement officers, the amount of 
marijuana that can be stopped in any one year is a relative trickle 
of marijuana -- valued at several hundred million dollars -- compared 
to the estimated $25 billion in street value of the drug that makes 
its way into the United States, he said.

"The No. 1 organized crime activity is marijuana trafficking as 
opposed to any other drug," McKay said. "The black market is 
dangerous and it's killing people."

McKay said he knew his endorsement of the initiative would upset some 
law enforcement colleagues.

"I had an obligation to speak out," he said. "I had information that 
wasn't in most people's experience."

McKay, 56, said he is not a marijuana smoker and won't smoke it if 
it's legalized.

Marijuana can be addictive and it "doesn't make sense" for kids to 
smoke it, he said. But he believes the initiative's plan to legalize, 
regulate and tax the drug is, like alcohol, a better policy than prohibition.

An estimated 14 million Americans regularly smoke marijuana, McKay said.

"It's clear to me the federal policy needs to change ... to allow 
adults to possess some modest amount of marijuana and consume it if 
they wish," he said. "Marijuana prohibition is a failure."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom