Nice pun.

I agree that the imminence of the threat is over-stated, there.

But I'm still really skeptical that the feds are going to keep their hands off. Obama said he'd leave users alone, and I don't think he chose his words carelessly. A state licensed store selling weed would/will meet every federal definition of a "distributor" and no one has said that they are going to leave distributors alone.

I sincerely hope I am wrong. And I stand behind what we're doing here in WA. But it's going to be interesting times here, one way or another.

@2) While I agree that the feds may file an injunction against the states at some point, or they could prosecute folks who have licenses to grow and sell, I just want to be clear that that's not what Kerlikowske said. It's dishonest for any media outlet to misrepresent it that way.

It's interesting that Seattle's former police chief is the current drug czar. At the least he should be familiar with many of the politicians who he will be corresponding with about the implementation of the legal marijuana market.

@5: when he was still police chief here (and not at all a bad one compared with others that have held that office) he was waving around city-hall, and else-where, a 'reefer-madness' screed produced by the Bush administration tabacco lobby that amounted to "super-weed shall bring down the republic!!!". various folks tried to calm him, but he was uncalmable; then he left for the national drug czar position. so apparently he's still focused on that distorted point of view.

@4 True. And most police chiefs have pretty progressive views w/ respect to the failings of the War on Drugs. Makes one wonder about any internal conflicts Kerlikowske has about that and his current position as Drug Czar.

@5 Shit, I stand corrected.

Start a betting pool on who will be busted first.

I know this is off topic but the Illinois Senate is debating on marriage equality NOW:

live stream: http://new.livestream.com/blueroomstream…

live blog:
http://capitolfax.com/2013/02/14/live-se…

another live stream:

http://www.ilga.gov/senate/audvid.asp

@8 expect sting operations where under 21 buyers try to buy 2 ounces, after a long sob story about why they can't come in every day.

Also, any grow op within 100 miles of the border.

@3--Fair enough!

Eternal vigilance, and all of that...

I'm one of those people, show me the pictures of the feds raiding places. Until then, I just don't see the kind of mass bust this warning seems to carry with it. Thanks for the reporting, better safe than sorry but calm down. Also, none of this changes my consumption patters of pot, I hope someone in the federal government understands that even in their most extreme they have no power over what I decide to put in my lungs.

If the State of Washington's new marijuana cartel system isn't going to be "large scale," then we might as well throw out the dictionary because words no longer mean anything.

I would love to agree with this 100%, but I can't.

The DEA has a track record of busting distributors after assets have been accumulated, so they can confiscate the assets.

Melinda Haag is trying to confiscate a damn hospital dispensary, shameless Jezebel.

Kerfrag-what's-his-name is fearing for his job. It's been discussed over and over that pot busts are the easiest.

I'm not buying it. PLEASE SOMEBODY PROVE ME WRONG.

Everybody has a disclaimer. I don't smoke, but wish I had time to. Some day I will have time.

I need to add a second note. I am in Washington. It's really important for everyone in this state and CO to not be stupid about this new freedom, and not give the naysayers any ammunition against the movement. Do your research. Watch countries that have legalized. Gain learn from their experiences.

Hey, nice writing. If you can stand that it’s an anecdote, my observations are based on a particular incident.
As a Calif. resident, I supported (as a referendum) Prop. 19 for legalization although it wasn’t well-written and likely didn’t have a legal leg to stand on. What finally swayed me as a new Wash. resident to support I-502 was a Stranger article pointing out how current marijuana laws had been used as a proxy for racial profiling.
This article (http://bit.ly/Zn6tXU) describes a chilling event regarding a dispensary bust in a remote, ultra-conservative town in California (it has a few inaccuracies: the “handful” of residents was well over a hundred, significant in a city of less than 30,000). In the dead of night, NCIS with the assistance of every other police force within 50 miles (not an exaggeration) storm-trooped into the residence at the back of the dispensary, dragging away the residents in their underwear. It was not on Navy property. It was three doors down from my house - nearly 10 miles from the nearest gate entering the Base, and miles outside the City limits.
The dispensary was cleanly and securely run. They had recently obtained a legal ruling enabling them to re-open (as the only dispensary within nearly 100 miles). Would it be too speculative to say this was a politically-driven bust in retaliation for pissing off the very conservative members running the City and Base?
Perhaps not when one considers what also was happening in close proximity to the Base: an illegal cartel grow in one of the BLM wilderness canyons just to the west. The bust occurred just weeks after all BLM personnel were notified by the DEA of the grow and to abstain from entering the canyon for the rest of the year.
Afterwards, meth labs in my neighborhood continued to burn to the ground at the rate of two to three a year – in an area of maybe two hundred homes (Google map “Buttermilk Acres” and count for yourself).
No action was ever taken against the grow.
@13 No pictures exist and no further details have ever been released. This story has nearly disappeared and no one’s heard from the dispensary operators since.

Hey, nice writing. If you can stand that it’s an anecdote, my observations are based on a particular incident.
As a Calif. resident, I supported (as a referendum) Prop. 19 for legalization although it wasn’t well-written and likely didn’t have a legal leg to stand on. What finally swayed me as a new Wash. resident to support I-502 was a Stranger article pointing out how current marijuana laws had been used as a proxy for racial profiling.
This article (http://bit.ly/Zn6tXU) describes a chilling event regarding a dispensary bust in a remote, ultra-conservative town in California (it has a few inaccuracies: the “handful” of residents was well over a hundred, significant in a city of less than 30,000). In the dead of night, NCIS with the assistance of every other police force within 50 miles (not an exaggeration) storm-trooped into the residence at the back of the dispensary, dragging away the residents in their underwear. It was not on Navy property. It was three doors down from my house - nearly 10 miles from the nearest gate entering the Base, and miles outside the City limits.
The dispensary was cleanly and securely run. They had recently obtained a legal ruling enabling them to re-open (as the only dispensary within nearly 100 miles). Would it be too speculative to say this was a politically-driven bust in retaliation for pissing off the very conservative members running the City and Base?
Perhaps not when one considers what also was happening in close proximity to the Base: an illegal cartel grow in one of the BLM wilderness canyons just to the west. The bust occurred just weeks after all BLM personnel were notified by the DEA of the grow and to abstain from entering the canyon for the rest of the year.
Afterwards, meth labs in my neighborhood continued to burn to the ground at the rate of two to three a year – in an area of maybe two hundred homes (Google map “Buttermilk Acres” and count for yourself).
No action was ever taken against the grow.
@13 No pictures exist and no further details have ever been released. This story has nearly disappeared and no one’s heard from the dispensary operators since.

DEA is still busting growers and dispensaries that are legal under state laws, not to mention feral hemp fields everywhere. And 50% of drug arrests are for simple marijuana possession. How could they pass up that easy money?
US citizens, you can 1) Vote 2) Petition 3) Use your power of jury nullificaiton - a juror can vote to aquit if he or she feels the law is unjust or misapplied. Also, vote with your money - join groups like mpp or norml and buy hemp.

#13 - Pics & facts are easy to find on the web.