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Mamabudz

Source: Reuters
Pubdate: September 17, 2003
Author: Reed Stevenson

Seattle votes to make marijuana crime low priority

Seattle's citizens have told local police and prosecutors they should make marijuana use the least of their worries and instead provide better protection of homes, streets and neighborhoods.

In a vote hailed a by marijuana advocates as the most progressive in the United States, more than 58 percent of voters endorsed a bill that explicitly requires authorities to "make cases involving marijuana offenses, in which the marijuana was intended for adult personal use, the city's lowest law enforcement
priority."

The measure also establishes a Marijuana Policy Review Panel to oversee arrests and report on the impact of the initiative.

Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske was quoted by the Seattle Times as saying the measure would not affect police work on the street. About 400 arrests for marijuana possession are made in Seattle every year.

Keith Stoup, founder and executive director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, hailed the vote.

"It's very positive to see that a solid majority of the residents in
Seattle do not want to waste law resources prosecuting marijuana users," Stoup said, adding that the vote marked a crucial step toward the legalization of marijuana.

ALREADY LOW PRIORITY

The new law, called Initiative 75, was aimed at making easier for
adults to possess marijuana in small quantities without having to fear that they will be sent to prison for years for smoking pot.

Critics have said that any law making marijuana use "low priority" is meaningless because it already is a low priority for local police and provides no direction on how to do that.

John Walters, director of the White House Office on National Drug
Control Policy, came to Seattle earlier this month to talk down the
proposed law, calling it a "silly and irresponsible game." The U.S. drug czar said any law making pot use a low law enforcement priority would raise its use among teenagers.

The U.S. West Coast, along with neighboring parts of Canada and Alaska, has long been a haven for marijuana advocates and users.

In Canada, a bill is under consideration that would decriminalize
possession of of small amounts of marijuana. People caught with 15 grams (half an ounce, or enough for about 15 to 30 joints) or less of cannabis would only be fined, and criminal penalties would be reduced on those growing up to 25 marijuana plants.

Vancouver, a three-hour drive north of Seattle, is considered a haven for marijuana users where pot is readily available and its use often overlooked. Much of the surrounding Canadian province of British Columbia is a fertile growing area for the drug.

At midnight on Tuesday, 97 percent of votes had been counted and a final tally of the vote, which required a simple majority to pass, is due later this week.

The initiative was endorsed by the League of Women Voters of Seattle, King County Democrats and the Washington state arm of the American Civil Liberties Union.

 

Cassius

Who in the hell smokes half-gram joints?

YetiManY3K

I do, my J's are usually about .5 - .8 grams of weed, and then about half of that in tobacco.

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Kenobi

Now this is awesome ,gues im gonna move to seattle .
One more step into the future.

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KahunaBudz

Bollox. I live in Seattle and if the cops were already treating it as a low priority then there wouldn't even be that vote. And I'm giddy with joy it passed too, I about sh*t myself when I saw the headlines on my doorstep.
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Seattle is a very good city to cheef reefer in. Though the lack of job availability is a downside.

- We get marijuana imported from Canada by plane, boat, and land vehicle.

- About a year ago there was a large 10,000 plant+ crop bust in Eastern Washington so that shows how large of a demand there is, in both washington and america.

- We have just as good as homegrown as BC! (well maybe )

- 3 hour drive from Vancouver, BC, Canada.

- Seattle is Seattle, what more could you want

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masterg

Nice to hear. Hopefully, CA manages to reform its laws further, with the support of great orgs like NORML.

Lothar121

This directly contradicts what the white house wanted. We are on our way to freedom, its only a matter of time. I'm so happy this initiative passed, and I hope more and more pass in the future.

The medical marijuana debate goes on, and before cannabis can be regulated for responsible adults, we must focus-fire on the medicinal issue relating to it first.

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LotusFlower

I am so very happy this passed. I was at the Hempfest there last month, and we were registering people to vote at the Information Booth, letting them know about I-75 and encouraging support for the bill.

John Walters called it a "silly and irresponsible game"? Lol. Reminds me of early prohibitionist propaganda, " a crazy racket".
Shame, shame John. Not supposed to use federal money to campaign against a state initiative.

It's very encouraging to see so many advocates organizing together to make something like this a reality. I can't even get repeat members of my NORML group to come to the meetings every month

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chinacat311

im excited to see another step towards legalization, but does this really make a difference?? the cop said nothing much would change around seattle.

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Plainsman1963

My question too.
Anything that supports decriminalization/legalization is great to get into the public record, but does it actually do anything? I don't know.

When I hear low priority, I think of it like this...If a cop stops you for something else and discovers pot on you, they will write it up. They won't be looking for possession cases by themselves, though.
Sorta what I have in my state right now.

Does this actually change the sentencing on the charge of possession, or change the amounts needed to be charged with possession? How exactly do you make something "low priority"? What exactly does that mean to the P.O.'s in Seattle? Not what it means to us, what does the desk sergeant (or whomever) tell the patrolmen is different before they go out on their shift? They have already said that they aren't out looking for possession charges.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, but it just seems to me to be a hollow declaration, no teeth attached. While it is nice to see, does it actually have a tangible effect on this WOD? I hope so.

Offtopic, but I have to ask...The way CNN reported it, the other measure which would have raised the price of a latte 10 cents and sent that money to the schools was defeated? What's up with that?
Maybe I shouldn't take CNN's word for it.

Plains

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