Pubdate: Sun, 01 Dec 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Seattle Times
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Bob Young, The Seattle Times

SMOKING OUT VIOLATORS

Minors Will Visit Stores in Washington State to See If They Can Buy Pot.

Seattle - A select group of minors will go into Washington state's 
new legal pot stores on a covert mission: to try to buy weed for the state.

To curtail youth access to legal marijuana, state officials want to 
use minors in pot-buying stings next year when stores are expected to open.

Charged with implementing the new law that allows adults to possess 
an ounce of pot, the state Liquor Control Board already uses minors 
in "controlled buys" of alcohol at retail stores.

Justin Nordhorn, the board's enforcement chief, said it makes sense 
to apply the same practice to pot, particularly with the federal 
Department of Justice watch dogging the state's newest legal 
intoxicant. "Of course the feds are looking at a tightly regulated 
market around youth access, and I think this shows we're being 
responsible," he said.

The agency also will ask the legislature to set penalties for minors 
who attempt to purchase legal pot and those who use or manufacture 
fake ID cards for that purpose.

Alison Holcomb, chief author of the new law, said using minors in 
pot-buying stings would support the state and federal emphasis on 
limiting youth access. But as criminal-justice director for the 
American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, Holcomb said she does 
not think adding criminal laws for pot possession is a good idea. She 
said she would prefer a focus on other prevention strategies.

The head of a statewide substanc eabuse prevention group also 
supports the stings, as long as minors are not put in danger. Because 
pot shops might open as cash-only businesses, "it seems the potential 
for crime is higher, so protection for minors in sting operations 
must be seamless," said Derek Franklin, president of the Washington 
Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention.

Stings appear to be warranted in alcohol enforcement. Data for the 
past 17 months show that alcohol retailers had an 85 percent 
compliance rate in youth stings. In other words, for every seven 
times minors working for the state tried to buy alcohol in stores, 
bars or restaurants, they succeeded once.

While Washington has licensed more than 20,000 locations to sell 
alcohol, the state plans to allow just 334 marijuana stores, making 
it easier, in theory, to enforce the law at them.

The state now hires 18-, 19- and 20year-olds across the state to use 
in alcohol stings, Nordhorn said. About 30 minors, both men and 
women, work for the liquor board. They get paid about $10 an hour, 
Nordhorn said, and they tend to be students interested in law 
enforcement and substance-abuse prevention.

Nordhorn plans to send minors into pot stores to try to purchase 
products. It's the store clerks' responsibility to make sure 
customers are 21. The law does not allow minors even in stores.

If there is a pot sale, the minor would go outside, where an 
enforcement officer would be waiting, Nordhorn said. The officer 
would go in and cite the store for a violation.

The penalty for a first offense is a 10day suspension of a store's 
license or a $2,500 fine. A second violation in three years would 
bring a 30-day license suspension. A third violation in three years 
would cost a business its license.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom