Pubdate: Fri, 07 Dec 2012 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2012 Los Angeles Times Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/ Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117 Page: 10A TOKERS TAKE IT ALL IN AS POT LAW TAKES EFFECT SEATTLE - More than 100 hard-core tokers gathered under the Space Needle at the stroke of midnight to light one up in celebration of Washington state's new marijuana law, which made it legal on Thursday for those 21 and older to possess an ounce or less of pot. Voters in Washington and Colorado approved the nation's first recreational marijuana laws in November. The Colorado law doesn't take effect until January. The Washington initiative allows for pot possession, but it's still illegal to buy, sell or grow marijuana. Although smoking publicly remains against the law, that didn't stop the bandanna-clad crew puffing on pipes and joints under a chilly night sky early Thursday. And it appeared the Seattle Police Department was not in the mood to arrest anyone on a night most seemed to take as celebratory. "The Dude abides, and says, 'Take it inside!' " the Police Department posted on its police blotter, under a photo of Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski. The department issued a bulletin to officers directing them "until further notice" to take no enforcement action, other than a verbal warning, against those violating the new law, known as Initiative 502. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom