Hey Guys: Some bad news to report - according to norml and the everett herald the legalization and decriminalization bill are dead for the year in the Washington state house. Here's why: Rep. Chris Hurst, chairman of the public safety panel, told me there are not enough votes to move either bill out of committee. There are five Democrats and three Republicans on the committee. The Republicans will unite against the bills. Hurst and Rep. Al O’Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, both former cops, each said they will oppose the bills.] So the vote will go down 5-3 against both = dead for year. ON TO BETTER NEWS: Washington state legalization initiative is alive and needs 241K signatures. Please visit Sensible Washington and donate to the cause. The cop groups are going to spend a lot of money against this bill. We need to raise some cash if we care about the cause! Signature collection will start March 1 and end early July. Also, follow frequently and add to facebook. Thanks, Seattle Res P.S. We all heard that MINOR marijuana offenses in the city of Seattle will no longer be prosectured - but people can still be arrested - so everyone please still be careful! Also people can be booked with intent to distribute which WILL still be prosecuted.
I watched every minute of the hearing. The ONLY people who were against this were COPS..Thats it...So basically the people who's are tasked with law enforcement are now deciding laws..Talk about the lions guarding the sheep..Fuck the police.
After reading a couple of seattle newspapers and listening to some comments by Mr. Hurst I knew he wasn't voting for it and he felt it wouldn't pass so that was that, I watched the whole hearing too. The cops' testimony was the shortest and worst.
Sorry about the loss. Vermont has a very modest decriminalization bill up this year, and I fear it will meet the same fate. Be glad you have ballot initiatives/voter referenda in Washington to counter the cowardice of your legislature. Unfortunately such a mechanism doesn't exist in Vermont, so we're bound by what our elected representatives decide.
I think they should stop trying to lobby the government to restrict known competitors from the market by passing legislation against them. Isn't it fairly obvious that when you put anything from a union to a bank to a major corporation in bed with government, that the result is pure bedlam? I'm not trying to sound cold, but this is the reality. By passing bad legislation to get a leg up on competition is, first of all, cheating and perverting capitalism, and secondly, as a result of the legislation that countless lives are ruined, can be considered morally reprehensible.
We still have a chance to contact our legislators by the time the vote is cast at 1:30p tomorrow. Make sure you contact your state representive, and let them know you support HB 1177 and HB 2401. If we swamp them w/ letters, email, and phone calls, we just might get this passed out of committee.
I'll send it tonight..But its not our state reps, its the people on the Public Safety committee, right? Also for Washingtonians, important part of this iniative news: So there will be a waiting game (and only a window of so many months to get those signatures) starting now
Very disappointing news, but i think it may be good. This has woken up all the pot activists in Washington. I think that we can get this initiative past and it will be better than the bills. Perhaps we can get free cultivation and coffeeshops in there rather than just liquor stores and regulated growing. Also dont forget Seattleites, our Canadian brother Marc Emerey is about to visit us thanks to an all expenses paid trip from Uncle Sam. Be sure to be on the lookout for when the rally outside the king county courthouse will be!
Don't worry. If Cali or any other near by state legalizes there will be such a huge overflow of cheaper weed into surrounding states that other states would be foolish not to jump on that shit and tax it. They will be forced to legalize or they will have to spend HUGE amounts of $ to stop that. Border patrol between states and what not. Damn hope it never gets to that point.
Question: Will the petition be able to be signed electronically? Or will this be dependent on people standing outside of grocery stores and community colleges? I see an obviously humongous advantage if its the former, especially with all the people in the suburbs who will most likely not see any physical signature collectors.
I'm not saying I'm 100% correct, but I'm pretty sure we're going to need straight up hand-written signatures. With only 4 months (compared to other iniatives which can get a year) it will be a tough battle, but with 56% of Washington for legalization, a quarter million shouldn't be too hard to accomplish. Comes to about 60,000 a month, which is 2,000 a day. If 100 volunteers get 20 signatures a day (EASY)....BAM, we've got it on the ballot.
Here are the members of the comitte, along with office locations, and contact telephone numbers: Hurst, Christopher (D) Chair \tJLOB 314\t(360) 786-7866 O'Brien, Al (D) Vice Chair \tJLOB 429\t(360) 786-7928 Pearson, Kirk (R) * \tLEG 132C\t(360) 786-7816 Klippert, Brad (R) ** \tJLOB 436\t(360) 786-7882 Appleton, Sherry (D) \tJLOB 424\t(360) 786-7934 Goodman, Roger (D) \tJLOB 320\t(360) 786-7878 Kirby, Steve (D) \tJLOB 432\t(360) 786-7996 Ross, Charles (R) \tJLOB 418\t(360) 786-7856
OP, are you actually sure the republicans will unite against the bill, or just guessing? Not all Republicans are against making sensible marijuana laws.
If anyone knows where or how I can get a form to get signatures I would love to help. As a WSU student I think that there are probably an easy 10k or more on campus that would love to sign.
I think there is less anti marijuana ideas in the GOP than many people think. I have smoked with many people that voted straight ticket republican, or nearly. They also werent people who tried it once or twice, they were big time stoners who LOVE weed and still do and love the Republican party. Generalizations are stupid. I can virtually guarantee you that if every Republican was against weed it would be less than 50% support for legalization in this state (even though it is a blue state, there are still many republicans here) while currently it is 56% according to a channel 5 poll. Do Republicans support it less than Democrats and moderates? Of course, but I know at least 3 pretty staunch Republicans that also smoke weed. I would like to help as well on this, and to at least find out where signatures are being gathered. We need to post signature locations on here. If you are not registered to vote, do so NOW!!!!!! This issue is important not just so you can smoke without worry, its also a social justice issue and to help save our states economy without raising taxes.