Three representatives introduced a bill in the state house this morning that would reduce the penalty for marijuana possession to a mere $100 fine. [Update: Nine additional co-sponsors have signed on.] Under current law, possessing as little as one joint is punishable by up to 90 days in jail. In Washington last year, 11,553 people were arrested on marijuana possession charges.

But can it pass?

This year seems an especially unlikely time for legislators to embrace liberal civil-liberty-lovin’ bills, considering the priority of bridging Washington’s $6 billion budget gap. But the financial crunch may prove a paradoxical windfall. Sponsors and advocates behind the bill intend to capitalize on the bill’s savings.

Representative Brendan Williams (D-22, Olympia), one of the bills co-sponsors, says he plans to “frame it in terms of the tradeoff in the budget discussion … and set a square alternative. He says conservative legislators could be attracted to the cost-saving argument for decriminalization more than ever. “Do you choose to provide health care for x number of children or fund criminalizing marijuana possession?” he asks. For example, Williams cites a cost analysis of pot busts taken from Washington State Institute for Public Policy data that shows, based on the number of arrests in 2007, Washington would save $7.5 million by passing the law.

mj_enforcement_costs.jpg

Although the bill may seem too controversial to pass this year, Alison Holcomb, director of the ACLU of Washington’s Drug Policy Project, says public opinion is on the bill’s side. A recent poll shows 81 percent of Washington voters believe pot laws aren’t working. “I think that the bill is an improvement Washington voters are ready to see,” she says. Massachusetts voters passed a nearly identical measure in November by a 30-point margin—and the lack of pot-induced hysteria in Massachusetts may provide evidence that the hackneyed reefer-madness claims about marijuana reforms are unfounded.

The bill would apply to adults in possession of 40 grams or less of pot; penalties for minors would remain unchanged.

Nonetheless, the bill is a lefty longshot, Williams acknowledges. “Cal Anderson used to be a voice in the wilderness on gay civil-rights issues,” he says. “You just keep plugging away and people start thinking in terms of the change.”

The bill’s prime sponsor is representative Dave Upthegrove (D-33, south King County). State senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36, Queen Anne) says she will introduce a mirror bill in the state senate within a week.

47 replies on “State Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana Would Save Millions”

  1. Very wise choice.

    To bad the Fear Nazis will kill it with false horror stories designed to appeal to those who depend on contributions from the people who work in prisons and police forces that would have to find useful employment that actually helps society.

  4. This is great news. Now, what can we do to make sure it passes? Are you going to be posting frequent updates and distributing the office phone numbers of our state senators?

  5. This has about zero chance of passing: we don’t have enough Democrats in the House or Senate to move on this. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

  6. Most republicans are pro-decrim, if they’re actions end up matching their talk. We shall see.

    Thanks to Dominic for following this story – great work, once again!

  7. Legalize it and sell it at the Liquor Stores.
    We gotta pay for that tunnel somehow.
    I kinda doubt the Obama administration is going to stop a State from doing this.

  8. I’d really like to see you ask our local state reps if they’re gonna co-sponsor this bill and post the results. Also, phone numbers and email addresses would be good. I think I see HempFest’s message this year!

  9. Exactly, @1. The Incarceration Industry isn’t just going to give up $7.5 mm in what essentially amounts to windfall profits that easily; and given the near hysterical levels of fear that is instilled in the general public at the mere mention of “teh mary-jane-huana”, they’re pretty much guaranteed to drum up a sizable amount of opposition to the bill.

  10. Folks, at the very least email your state reps regarding this — it’s really easy to do! Just go to http://www.leg.wa.gov/house, find your rep, click on their name, and then click on their email link. It even gives the opportunity to indicate what bill you’re referencing, if you support it, and will CC your other representative and state senator. Do It!

  11. Just left a message for Eric Pettigrew. Spoke to Sharon Tomiko Santos’ office, staffer seemed unaware of the bill. I urged her support and was ushered off the phone.

  13. @7 beat me to it. Legalize and tax it, and the fiscal benefit would go from mere millions to hundreds of millions or more. That would pay for the new tunnel or could simply be used to patch the huge hole in the budget. Or is that a bad idea because pot taxes are regressive?

  15. “81 percent of Washington voters believe pot laws aren’t working.”

    This does not necessarily mean 81% want to decriminalize it. Some of those people that think the current laws aren’t working would probably advocate tougher law enforcement, not decriminalization. This is one of those misleading polls that doesn’t actually tell you what you think it does. It’s a relatively useless data point. A better question would be: “do you favor decriminalization of marijuana, yes or no?”, but that isn’t what this says.

  16. @ 15–Agreed. Some of those people, no doubt, believe the solution is increasing the penalties. But the 81-percent figure is the data available to me from the ACLU’s opinion research, so I posted it in conjunction with the ACLU assertion the public is ready for a bill. If nothing else, the figure shows people are discontent with–and possible willing to reconsider–pot laws.

  19. This would be a $7.5 million boost to law enforcement agencies to battle, you know, serious crimes. Didn’t SPD just cut its gang unit?

  20. At Least you guys get to discuss such things. Here, in the Sunshine State we have the #1 fascist govt in the USA. Gov. Crist ‘The Kneecapper’ has made it a trafficking offense just to have 25 plants. 4x the federal charge. One joint can get you a year in jail and a hefty fine. It’s strange that the prohibitionists have a stranglehold on Florida when we consider that 95% of responders to the MIAMI HERALD POLL favored the legalization of medical marijuana. Plus, currently, 208,291 people have responded to the TIME POLL and 87.3% favor the outright legalization of marijuana. Only 11.2% of Americans believe the war on drugs is working (2008 Zogby Poll). Also, the #1 question at change.org was will Obama legalize marijuana and medical marijuana. It looks like efforts to make the same kind of question is leading again under national security. They divide questions into categories so Obama wouldn’t be embarrassed when he said “no” again. Good luck and God bless your efforts to get cannabis decriminalized and fight the good fight.

  21. Not only is there the potential for jail time right now, I think there’s actually a mandatory minimum of 1 day in jail.

    As far as this bill is concerned, bring it on! As someone who has prosecuted marijuana cases, I’d love it if we could all focus on other things.

  22. With all of the pressing issues facing Washington state it seems the time is now to end this ridiculous policy of wasting tax payer money, law enforcement resources, and precious court time addressing a problem that never actually existed. The reality is that half of the people waling and driving around this state are stoned on pot. There is no problem except these stupid, needless pot laws. About time for a change indeed.

  23. change is really needed! fines are acceptable solution. if MA can do it, certainly Washington can too. the people of Seattle are less cool than the people of Boston who now have the $100 fine system in place. how’s that?

  24. Be sure and follow the link to the bill and write each of the Representatives as well as your own and thank them/urge them to support this important bill.

  27. if marijuana was legalized and taxed we wouldnt make millions, or even hundreds of millions, we would make billions if not tens of billions.

    first we would make money from taxing marijuana, we would save money from enforcing the law, we would also legalize the hemp plant which is the most useful plant known to man, it can be used for food, fuel, clothing, paint, furniture, houses, insulation, it will save trees to make paper, the list can go on forever. it is such a useful plant that it was illegal NOT to grow it in the 18 and 19th centuries.

    legalizing the plant would basically take us out of the economic drought by itself.

  28. this is only a decrim bill (civil fines instead of arrest), not a tax & regulate bill! i worry that when people are no longer arrested, they will become complacent and we will never get it to a regulated status. people not being arrested for possession creates a vacuum in the illegal black market of production and distribution. how do we quit punishing people for possession but not create a legal way for them to procure it? there will still be grow-ops and the violence/police raids surrounding those (see west seattle 2 days ago). and that still leaves the medical marijuana patients and the whole 60-day supply mess. while i’m not going to oppose decrim, all it does is appease people and does nothing toward an actual solution of ending the black market.

  29. It’s just a start, I think. As long as we have smart people (like westseattlered) keeping the real goal in site we will be able to use decriminalization as a wonderful stepping stone towards sanity.

  30. I think that legalizing and regulating is a much better option than decriminalizing. Decriminalizing stops the arrest, prosecution and incerceration of non-violent drug users, sure. What is DOES NOT do is stop the drug cartel violence we’ve been hearing so much about in the media. Supposedly its gotten so bad that the government of the US is discussin militarizing the border to Mexico. No good – just legalize, regulate and tax it. Cartels will be out of business.

  32. Wow, that would be great. That is over 1.4 ounces of herb. Too bad it will get killed by fascists in the legislature! “Live free or die!”

  33. Leftie longshot? I know a lot more conservatives hoping for this than lefties

    I’m a conservative & I’ve had a belly full of the war on marijuana users for years. Come on all you political leaders. Get a set of b*lls and stand up for what 87% of the American people want. legalize marijuana already.

  34. No joke asdf…I am conservative as well and believe in the freedom of making our own decisions regarding what we do or do not do to our own bodies. I can honestly I will celebrate the day it is at least decriminalized. There are so many non drug related reasons also to allow Hemp as a profitable crop. I am not up on all of its applications but the Green movement should have jumped on this as a biofuel! Easier I would think to grow than Algea?

    Please end the prohibition for the U.S. people!

  35. Law enforcement agencies use pot law enforcement as a revenue stream, that is, they target drug dealers based on potential assets available for seizure. As a former law enforcement officer on the east coast, it frustrated the hell out of me to see crack, meth and heroin dealers overlooked because of a lack of assets. It’s easy money for law enforcement. Why? There are so many pot dealers and users, plus, they are notoriously nonviolent…and mellow. Law enforcement agencies look for pot dealers with assets that can be seized and used for flashlights, body armor, weapons, radios and other toys their budgets can’t afford. Then we have the contract prison industry that booms with business because of pot related arrests. Alcohol and tobacco related illness kills upwards of a million or more people in this country each year. I’m not certain, but I’m not sure smoking herb has killed soul. In fact, I believe it helps people going through chemo and dealing with other illnesses. Legalize it, tax it, and sell it like we sell alcohol and beer. It’s time to quit criminalizing the youth of this nation over a weed that can grow on the side of a road.

  36. marijuana is one of our many natural plants created by our god, it is a drug of peace, and healing, i think that our world would be better off if it was to be accepted

  38. Was legal a 100 years ago and President Jefferson grew it. Its a no brainer to me it should be legal. Some nutcase in the government in the thirties lobbied against it with false information and here we are today. Booze is the killer not marijuana.

  39. I can’t believe Washington hasn’t passed something like this or decriminalized it already. I’ve lived in Washington all my life and i’ve come to realize that marijuana is HUGE here, not to mention we have some of the best bud i’ve ever smoked. Same with Oregon, especially when compared to states like Colorado. I can see legalization happening soon, it seems like public acceptance has grown and people are starting to finally look past all the propaganda b/s that they feed us. And if that day comes i will regain my faith in humanity. But i just can’t believe it’s not already legal in washington considering Hempfest is the largest festival dedicated solely to cannabis in the world. And considering the history of marijuana and all of it’s uses, i just can’t believe it’s not legal anyway. This is definitely a step in the right direction.

  40. Some of those people that think the current laws aren’t working would probably advocate tougher law enforcement, not decriminalization. This is one of those misleading polls that doesn’t actually tell you what you think it does. It’s a relatively useless data point.

  42. our new city attorney says he will no longer prosecute anyone for marijuana possession, but now the city council supports fining people $100 for possession instead. seattle was pot-friendly for a minute.

  43. I was found with two empty pot pipes just blocks from the King county line in a hotel my wife and I decided to spend the night in rather than go home. The hotel looked ok from the outside. A knock on the door found 3 police officers walking into my room without asking saying they smelled pot. I had no pot,just pipes in my old jacket pocket. I cant smoke now because my pain clinic wont permit it yet although they hope to in the near future.
    Since then, I have spent 4000.00 dollars to stay out of jail, 16 hrs. of comunity service ( I am disabled so this SUCKED) and a 500.00 fine that this unemployed dsisabled 42 tear old son of a cop did not have. Turned out my lawyer was a scam artist whom upon finding my phobia of jail said if I didnt pay him to be my lawyer I would get the full sentence. I would love to see this over turned. The court lost some of my documents and suboned me to court and gfave me 2 years more probatiopn even though I compleeted all my punishment due. Once again I am42 years old, no record at all, I would get my ass handed to me in jail and I am being taken for all I dont have. Thank God for my wife by my side. Now I have another subonea in the mail and I have no idea why. If the lawyer found out he would call me to tell me I am on the way to jail.I feel I am being railroaded and it scares the hell out of me in this counrty My Grandfather lost his limbs to buy my freedom. Please Washington. Lets get real……LET ME UP.I’VE HAD ENEUGH CJ

  44. I am very much a conservative and I do believe in legalizing and taxing pot. It should be as available as alcohol and an age limit as alcohol. It should be not legal to drive a vehicle while under the influence of it. The laws the cover alcohol should just be amended to cover pot also that simple period. Again I am a very strict conservative, if this where to go for a public vote, I do believe that it would pass. Although people would need to be educated about pot and not allow the scare tactics to be used by the other side.

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