How did Holmes arrive at this proposal, anyway? Did he work behind the scenes with police officers and Council Members first, in a professional and collegial manner? Or did he just blindside everyone with it?
@5, I wonder if he's consulted with Mark Kleiman, the UCLA professor who has taken the lead in formulating Washington's and Seattle's post-502 pot policy. He's kind of controversial; for instance, he recommends strongly cracking down and INCREASING arrests and penalties for illegal selling, on the theory that this will drive sales to the new legal taxed-and-regulated market, which will always be at a disadvantage otherwise. On the other hand, he's apparently skeptical of any proposal designed solely to raise revenue, which is not was jurisprudence is about.
@7, I don't think so; this is an infraction, like a parking ticket, which doesn't show on a background check.
What have I told you about Nick Licata?? He's a good egg. We don't need to burden poor people with steep fines whose amounts balloon and triple or more with fees and penalties, that then go on to inhibit someone's ability to drive a car or rent a house. This is good. We need to ease into this new law and reality. Thanks, Nick.
I think the ban on public consumption of marijuana is futile and inhibits the community's ability to capitalize on tourist revenue. Unless the Sheraton or other hotel chains are prepared to offer marijuana smoking rooms, where are tourists going to go to smoke their weed? And honestly, who among us really gives a shit if someone wants to smoke a joint while watching the sunset on the beach? I understand this provision was added to I-502 to make it more palatable to the masses, but we need a legislative fix that allows people to consume marijuana products in spaces outside their homes. Whether we make room for alcohol free coffee shops like Amsterdam, or just admit that people will be smoking weed outside from time to time, we need to take a realistic approach. Pretending that this behavior can be legislated away is naive and short sighted.
@7, I don't think so; this is an infraction, like a parking ticket, which doesn't show on a background check.