Washington: Lawmakers to Consider Legalizing Marijuana

By Associated Press

OLYMPIA -- Washington is one of four states where lawmakers will consider bills to legalize and regulate marijuana, and about two dozen other states are considering bills ranging from medical marijuana to decriminalizing possession of small amounts.

Meanwhile, in Oregon, marijuana-law critics have taken to the streets. A petition drive has been launched to place the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act before voters in 2010. If passed, it would direct the state to legalize marijuana, regulate its cultivation, sell it and tax the sales. Farmers could also get permits to raise marijuana or hemp.

Opponents of relaxing marijuana laws aren't happy with any conversation on the topic, other than keeping the drug illegal.

"There's no upside to it in any manner other than for those people who want to smoke pot," said Travis Kuykendall, head of the West Texas High Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area office in El Paso, Texas. "There's nothing for society in it. There's nothing good for the country in it. There's nothing for the good of the economy in it."

Legalization bills were introduced in California and Massachusetts earlier this year, and this month, New Hampshire and Washington pre-filed bills in advance of their legislative sessions that begin in January. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, but guidelines have been loosened on federal prosecution of medical marijuana under the Obama administration.

In Oregon, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana has been decriminalized, and is punishable by a fine of $500 to $1,000.

Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, a Seattle Democrat. is sponsoring the legalization bill in Washington. If passed, marijuana would be sold in Washington's 160 state-run liquor stores, and customers, 21 and older, would pay a tax of 15 percent per gram. The measure would dedicate most of the money raised for substance abuse prevention and treatment, which is facing potential cuts in the state budget.

Ron Brooks, president of the National Narcotics Officers' Associations' Coalition, said that he feared that, if legalized, marijuana would contribute to more highway accidents and deaths, as well as a potential increase in health care costs for those who smoke it.

Legalization isn't the only measure lawmakers across the country are weighing. About two dozen states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin, are considering bills ranging from medical marijuana to decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana. Washington also is among the states that are considering decriminalization, with a bill that would reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime with jail time to a civil infraction with a $100 fine.

Fourteen states, including Oregon and Washington state, already have medical marijuana laws.


Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/washington_lawmakers_to...