So its official as most of you might know. Here in Wa state we will have an initiative on the ballot to remove all criminal and civil penalties for small amounts of marijuana. It would allow the liquor board to sell licenses so head shops and liquor stores could sell marijuana. The bill is a little shady however, currently medical patients have certain protections when it comes to driving while stoned. When this bill passes however it sets up a DUI system for cannabis. The bill will not interfere with medical patients in anyway except for this. I am still going to vote yes. If Washington, Oregon, California and Colorado could all pass legalization bills in the same voting year it would be a huge step forward. When alcohol prohibition ended it wasn't because the federal government ended it, its because enough states challenged it. The problem with society is that we will never see a down and outright full scale legalization bill pass. We have been taking baby steps for decades and have to continue taking these baby steps. Passing laws that aren't perfect but slowly chip away at societies view of marijuana all while biting the bullet. This law isn't perfect, it isn't a full scale legalization bill that I would love to see pass, but I'll be damned if I am going to let a small grasp of hope pass me by and not do everything I can to change prohibition laws. One day, we will have a society where medical patients and casual smokers alike have nothing to fear from state or federal government. Until that day, we have to tip toe around the edges, slowly making our way inwards. https://www.facebook.com/NewApproachWA?sk=wall ^I502's Facebook page.
great point bro if I was in WA I would vote yes as well. And for those that don't support it solely b/c of the DUI laws If your not driving recklessly and putting people in danger and/or disregarding driving laws then they don't have any reason to pull you over and if you are then you should have consequences anyway. Legalizing in states is how we are going to end prohibition of cannabis just like alcohol prohibition.
I live in washington and ive been pulled over 3 times in less then 1 year in 2011.Ive never been pulled over before in my life so i think it has something to do with the money situation .the first time was for me not having 2 licence plates for them to see because they cant see both inback and infront of my vehicle without passing me up and going on their way,second time was i took a coner too quickly.i am noted for driving slowly by many in my life and made fun of by people my age im also kinda a nervous driver, third was i didnt make a left turn signal on a backyard allystreet uh lol.anyone know lakewood is a city now lol? they just put in our sidewalks hahah Im not sure how im going to vote tbh it scares me to think ive never been busted since i was 15 for pot and went too ramenhall or whatever they call it now and now i could have gone to jail for smoking earlier that day in the morning? or even the night before i went to bed? i hope they can tell when your actually high and when your not like they can when your drunk. how did that 0.8 percent thing work out for you drinkers? i cant drink btw it gets me too sick for days afterwords. I Figure since the demecrats put so much money into the hireing of profesional pettetioners and seeing the % and how quickly they got enough signatures for the ballot that it's going to pass no doubt in washington as it is and it will be 50 years before they ammend it if they dont have a way of telling when your actually high and when you came down 1 hour ago. btw we just got the right to sell alcohol in people owned stores... like 5 months ago or something like that i didnt know it was even sold any other way then by state sactioned stores before i found these wonderfull forums. I swear they hide this kinda important stuff from the tv news..
Any step in the right direction is a good thing. Doing nothing only moves us backwards. I wish I could vote along with you but maybe my state will finally get something to the voters. Here in NC, serious cannabis reform has yet to make it out of committees and to the voters. Best of luck to you WA!
They will have some sort of a roadside blood test. Though I'm not sure how your going to get someone to consent to being stabbed and bled out just because you think they might be high =/
I've also been pulled over for not having a front license and taking a corner to quickly. I kinda argued the police and I got out of both of those tickets. The 0.08% limit for alcohol is kinda shitty. Its like..2 beers in one hour and you can't drive. Also if the law passes I think the DUI section of it would be amended fairly soon. There is a lot of passionate people in WA state, at least about pot. What took so long to privatize liquor sells is no one cared. State liquor stores seemed to work just fine, but once people got informed of how wasteful it was it only took a couple years to change. With the DUI section I-502 people are already aware going into it that it needs to change and I think that change would happen very quickly. And still, as long as you don't speed, have up to date tabs, insurance and all that jazz you should be fine. Despite popular belief police do need a legitimate reason to pull you over. I've had a no insurance ticket dropped because the officer pulled me over for no reason whatsoever.
There's already a DUI system for marijuana. It's not used almost ever because they have to actually arrest you BEFORE they can give you the drug test. The "new" system is exactly the same as the old system. It was only included in the language so uninformed people wouldn't think they were trying to give us the ability to drive around stoned. It's a non-issue. http://druggeddriving.org/pdfs/WalshStatebyStateDrugLawsAnalysis811236.pdf Scroll down to the page with the Washington laws and read it. It's exactly the same. I get that this is from an arguably anti-marijuana organization, but the section I'm referring to is taken word-for-word from the actual laws.
Ahh I see. Thats what I was lead to believe what I read but everyone in the medical community says otherwise. I don't know, either way I'm still voting yes lol.
Well, people in the medical community think that their rights are going to disappear for some reason if the initiative passes. There's no reason why adding rights for everyone else would take away their rights, given that they're justified in a medical sense.
I agree. Also any steps towards full scale legalization means more security for medical and casual users in the long run.
[quote name='"Sensual Koala"'] They will have some sort of a roadside blood test. Though I'm not sure how your going to get someone to consent to being stabbed and bled out just because you think they might be high =/[/quote] How does that help? I'm not high now but its in my blood and my urine and my hair... that doesn't make any since, someone who smoked yesterday would have it in their blood
they should just do field sobriety tests. If a new smoker hits some dank, you bet your ass they will fail a field sobriety test. And they shouldn't be driving in that condition either. although usually smokers actually know and will admit (sometimes unnecessarily) that they are in no condition to drive at the moment. But then again I live in the midwest and theres a small town in Illinois called Monee, and I know more than one person that has gotten pulled over, and for some reason the cops asked when the last time they had smoked bud was, and they both said within the past week and the cop gave them DUI (or OWI idk) for having it in their body still. Fucked up world we live in, don't trust anything`
Well said. Everyone needs to just get it together and pass this. After it's passed THEN it can be amended and people can sort out all the little imperfections. Everybody needs to just quit bitching and being selfish long enough to GET THIS DONE! You're NEVER gonna get a legalization bill that's perfect for everybody in every way.
Oh I can't remember the name of the news website I was on. But it was talking about the only way to enforce this law would be a blood tests/ field sobriety tests. I could be totally wrong and misread the article, I'll go look for the article and post on here when I find it
Im still not entirely convinced.it's basicly you people that trust other people to change stuff oposed to people that dont trust people becuase of thier experience. Your reply has made me think about a few things and i appreciate you taking the time to try and convince me otherwise.it's jusyt hard coming of that fence when you've been brainwashed your whole life