Pubdate: Sat, 13 Oct 2012
Source: Columbian, The (WA)
Copyright: 2012 The Columbian Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.columbian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/92
Author: Patty Hastings

STEVES BRINGS PRO-MARIJUANA CAMPAIGN TO VANCOUVER

Travel guru cites European drug policies

Travel guru Rick Steves spoke to full house at the Vancouver Community
Library Friday night in favor of I-502, an initiative to legalize,
regulate and tax marijuana.

The crowd was calmer than the one he met earlier in the day at the
state's capitol building. According to the Capital Record, those
opposing the initiative tried to drown out Steves and other speakers.

With more than 100 people in attendance at the library, Steves, who
has donated $350,000 to the campaign, outlined why he's a proponent of
the initiative.

Steves said marijuana use is highly stigmatized in the U.S., making
Americans afraid of being labeled a stoner for even talking about marijuana.

"It's an odd thing that we haven't been able to talk about this for so
long," Steves said.

Through his travels abroad, Steves found that alternative lifestyles
are tolerated in Europe, and people aren't criminalized for their
casual use of the drug. Europeans don't smoke any more marijuana than
Americans, he said, even though its legal in Europe.

Under I-502, up to one ounce of cannabis would be legal, or 16 ounces
of food infused with marijuana (such as brownies) or 72 ounces of
drinks infused with marijuana. People could smoke it in the privacy of
their own home, and medical marijuana laws would not change.

It would be regulated much like alcohol is. Selling marijuana on the
street would still be illegal, and selling pot to minors under age 21
would be illegal. Rather, marijuana would be sold through private
businesses and regulated by the government for quality control.

"When it's illegal, people have to buy it on the street from a
criminal," Steves said.

With the current illegal marijuana market, he said people may be
buying a contaminated product. Initiative 502 would ensure that people
know what they're buying and where it's coming from.

The law would also restrict advertising to protect youth from being
targeted and includes a DUI standard that would make it illegal to
drive with more than 5 nanograms of THC in your blood.

Whatever substance -- whether it's alcohol, prescription drugs or
marijuana -- impaired drivers shouldn't be on the roads, Steves said.

"I-502 has the great potential to work in parallel with law
enforcement," Steves said.

He noted that the law would generate revenue to the state that could
then be put back into drug education. The Office of Financial
Management estimated that making the initiative a law and including a
25 percent sales tax on marijuana, would bring in $1.9 billion in
revenue to the state over the next five years.

"Prohibition is an expensive, losing battle," Steves said. "If I want
to go home and smoke a little pot and look at my fireplace for six
hours, that's my civil liberty."

Voters will see the initiative on their Nov. 6 ballot. Oregon and
Colorado will have similar initiatives on their ballots.
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