Quote:

---

Washington state made history this Tuesday by passing Initiative I-502, becoming the first state in the nation, along with Colorado, to legalize recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 and over.

The web is flooded with celebration and images of foggy Seattle streets portrayed as some sort of marijuana Valhalla, but the real fog seems to be surrounding what Washington's "legalization" actually entails.

First, don't light up just yet. The Initiative does not take effect until Dec, 6. Even then marijuana can not be legally purchased until the state chooses who can legally produce and sell it, a process that could take up to a year, and your neighborhood pot dealer will unlikely be chosen. Users will only be permitted to possess up to one ounce of dried marijuana and possessing just 50% more than the “legal” amount will land you with a felony charge that holds a jail sentence of up to 5 years in prison. Don't expect to be smoking anywhere other then a private residence either because smoking in public is still illegal. In fact a Manette resident has already been arrested after police were called to a local park where the man said that after Tuesday's election, pot is legal. "We saw it on the news," he told the officer.

Even more so, growing, processing, and selling will be controlled by the Washington State Liquor Control Board with a 75 percent tax not including the 10 percent sales tax. The Liquor Control Board will also be in charge of regulating how much THC can be present in the marijuana sold and where and how many distributors will be allowed to open. Ordinary citizens will not be permitted to grow marijuana themselves either. Even more surprising, simply passing a joint from one person to another will still be a class C felony. Growing hemp still remains relatively unchanged as well.

One of the worst parts is the DUID (driving under the influence of drugs) provision and the zero tolerance clause for those under the age of 21 despite that people under 21 can legally possess medical marijuana. Medical marijuana patients and recreational users can now be charged with DUID for being above the designated 5 ng (nano-gram) / ml (milliliter) THC blood content limit (or a ZERO tolerance 0 ng/ml limit for those under 21) which means users will be instantly guilty of a DUID and will have their constitutional right to a fair trial revoked if they refuse a police blood draw. Under previous laws the system required law enforcement to prove impairment in court for a guilty verdict to occur.

This blood limit is not supported by any legitimate science either. The U.S. Department of Transportation concluded that “it is not possible to conclude anything about a drivers impairment on the basis of his/her plasma concentrations.” Other government studies from the National Library of Medicine have gone to show this 5 ng amount can be present in your blood days after using marijuana making arrest for being completely sober while driving a large possibility.

More worrisome is that when Nevada passed a similar DUID law, DUID arrests jumped 76 percent statewide. Several Seattle lawyers have issued their concern over the likely increase in arrests.

Despite marijuana legalization, it is still illegal on the federal level. Despite Obama's claim that he was "not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws [on medical marijuana]," the Obama administration has carried out more federal raids on medical marijuana facilities then Bush did in 8 years. The Obama Justice Department has already said that the federal law remains the same and they will decide what happens next, not Washington.

Some argue if this bill is a step forward or back but most marijuana advocates feel that despite the downfalls this is a step in the right direction. The bill does have positives that have already taken effect, such as the 220 misdemeanor possession cases that have been dropped in Pierce and King county. The problem is the media is completely silent on the negatives, especially the DUID provision. One thing is certain though, the public is not being informed that Washington's marijuana legalization could be a state power grab in sheep's clothing. Talk of new initiatives to make the law more suitable are already being discussed.

For more information visit No on I-502 and read the bill for yourself.

---