Pubdate: Fri, 07 Dec 2012
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Joel Millman

SMOKERS CELEBRATE AS WASHINGTON STATE LEGALIZES POT

VANCOUVER, Wash.-Pot smokers lit up in Washington state Thursday, 
when it became the first U.S. state to legalize possession of 
marijuana without a doctor's prescription, following the approval of 
a ballot measure in November.

Washingtonians, gathering in public places like Seattle's Space 
Needle, counted down to midnight, after which they began to fire up 
joints, pipes and bongs. Under the new law, people 21 and older 
legally can hold up to an ounce of marijuana.

But the state must still fashion rules for how pot is sold and 
regulated. Washington's Liquor Control Board now has 365 days to 
define standards for growing marijuana plants, processing the crop 
and selling the harvest in its smokeable form.

"As of today, you are able to possess up to an ounce of marijuana," 
the Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith said Thursday. 
"Establishing how you legally get that marijuana is what we will be 
working on for the next several months."

Police, meanwhile, must decide how to enforce the existing laws. The 
smokers gathered under the Space Needle, for example, were breaking a 
state law by lighting up in public. People who smoke pot in public 
face a fine, just like those who drink alcohol in public.

The Seattle Police Department announced in advance it would issue 
verbal warnings and not punish violators during the new law's inauguration.

"People just started gathering, and we were, like, let's just grow 
with it," said Darby Hageman, a legalization activist who runs a 
Seattle store called Hemp Boutique. "There were about 40 of us there; 
it was a lot of fun. People smoked pot, we laughed, we cheered. Some 
people cried," the 31-year-old said.

Marijuana possession is still a federal offense, and thus far efforts 
by Washington state and Colorado officials to learn how the U.S. 
Justice Department plans to treat potential offenders have yielded 
little clarification.

Colorado voters approved a similar pot measure last month. Colorado 
Secretary of State Scott Gessler finalized November's election 
results Thursday, making the pot-legalizing measure a law. Colorado's 
governor has until Jan. 5, 2013, to add the law to the state 
Constitution. Although Gov. John Hickenlooper opposed legalization, 
he cannot veto a measure approved by voters.

Washington plans a legal framework for buying and selling marijuana 
that partially hews to its liquor-sales regulations. It will allow 
only licensed growers to produce marijuana and only in the state of Washington.

The law calls for the state to impose a 25% excise tax on growers 
when they sell to processors, another 25% excise tax when processors 
sell to retailers; and another 25% excise tax when customers buy from 
a store. Customers will also pay sales tax; retailers will pay a 
standard Washington state business and occupancy tax.

"It's not the coffee-shop model they have in Amsterdam, and it's not 
the Home Grow Way they have elsewhere in Europe. It's the liquor 
store model, which hasn't yet been tried anywhere," said Rick Steves, 
the Seattle-based travel writer and a co-sponsor of the pot measure.

Pot will be sold by independent businesses-not state-run stores-that 
must pay a licensing fee when they are first certified as a pot 
store, as well as annual renewal fees. The state won't limit the 
number of retailers. The goal, said Mr. Smith of the Liquor Control 
Board, is to make marijuana widely available so as to deter users 
from buying from criminals. "It's got to be easy enough to buy at a 
retail store rather than buy it illegally," he said.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan in Seattle declined to 
comment, referring to a Wednesday statement in which Ms. Durkan said 
the department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances 
Act was unchanged, and "neither states nor the executive branch can 
nullify a statute passed by Congress."

Some local police say they don't expect surprises with the new law. 
"Possession of less than one ounce has always been a low-priority, 
misdemeanor citation," said Kim Kapp, spokeswoman for the Vancouver 
Police Department. "So with the legalization not much has really 
changed from a law enforcement perspective."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom