The police department has embarked on a top-down policy of search with the hope of seizure in an effort to enrich themselves though property sale in the context of decreased department funding. Simple as that.

Indeed, I experienced a rant by Captain Mike Meehan at the Burien Criminal Justice Center where he stated that Medical Marijuana is a lie, and that there is no proof that it ever helped anyone. After that meeting, I promptly resigned my participation in their task force, and wrote to Cindy Petit to voice my disgust with Captain Meehan's tirade. SPD and other law enforcement organizations blatantly and regularly take the law into their own hands and make judgments contrary to what is on the books. It is a serious problem that needs to be addressed - perhaps in the Legislature. There should be severe penalties for anyone entrusted to uphold the Revised Code of the State of Washington and who make themselves a defacto legislator to change it as they deem "fit" or right. The damage they can do to people already suffering is clearly underestimated.

hmmm, If the ACLU hadn't come out against I-1068, we have made pot legal Tuesday. We might have lost it too - but the ACLU coming out against it didn't help.

All this military style / SWAT team raid set up, is doing what? Protecting cops from citizens protecting themselves from cops who want to jail people in order to keep them from hurting themselves by smoking pot in their living rooms. The stupid, it burns BAD.

Shouldn't have gone after tobacco users ... if you had left us alone, your pot would not have seen so bad but now the anti-pot people have more firepower. ;) Next time some stupid ban on something comes up, think twice about supporting it.

I wasn't aware that the SPD was busting down the doors of tobacco growers based on the smell of tobacco wafting from the apartment. When did this happen?

If it IS the rank-and-file ignoring marching orders, I have to wonder why they care so much. Seriously, why? And really, why does ANYONE care that/how people like to get high? "Public safety" is one of those catch-all justifications/rationalizations for policies that don't really make sense, kinda like "national security," though there are also actual issues of public health and safety that do make sense to legislate (e.g. water quality, traffic laws), and national security too.

@5: Sie's talking about the whole anti-smoking push: ever-increasing taxes on tobacco, public smoking bans, personal vilification of smokers, denial of health care coverage or drastically inflated insurance premiums (which is really stupid - should we not cover people who eat fast food and don't exercise? people who skydive? sports players? people who drive or bicycle on public roads? people living in high-crime areas? frequent travelers? all of those drastically increase the incidence of health problems or injury...), etc.

Sie's saying that attacking tobacco as a recreational drug because it isn't particularly healthy has enabled some of the same arguments to be deployed against marijuana by association (as another smoked recreational drug; tobacco, or nicotine specifically, also has medical uses in addition to recreational ones e.g. treating certain neurodegenerative conditions, epilepsy, psychosis, bipolar, schizophrenia, because it acts as a moderately effective inhibitory-neuron stimulant)

John got it. Essentially when you attack one thing, all others that are even remotely connected gain more support against it, you see humans (at least in our country) always go to the extreme one way or the other. Extra taxes to pay for health coverage costs would have been fine and understandable, but the rest was just opening doors for all things remotely related, and pot is very closely related to tobacco.

It's a running start, and it would not surprise me if they even go after incense burning people just because "it smelled like smoke." Remember the old adage, give them an inch, they'll take a mile ... well ... they're taking that mile, and they were given a few more than one inch, so suck it up. The only way to stop excessive persecution is to take their control away. I still trust and respect the police, because if any other anti-pot person had the same power as the cops they'd have done the same thing.

To me tobacco is my anti-anxiety medication, the only one that has worked oddly, I always wind up with the worst side effects of any prescription medication I take. So when they went after us smokers I was angry, now I'm just laughing my arse off, sorry, but pot fans just asked for it ... and worse, many pot fans actually believe tobacco smoke is more dangerous! LOL

Next time you see a cop sniffin' outside your window...fart.

This happens in more way than one i have been charged with trafficking in marijuana in Ohio. I dont sell I only smoked recreationally. I have recently quit due to the loss of my job, home, car, personal belongings, dignity, and integrity. You see here they put me on the news about 10months ago saying i was charged with Trafficking. The ignorant ppl in this state see you on the news and your guilty. I have yet to go to court. I have asked why it was necessary for our law enforcement deemed it necessary to assign a confidential informant to me. I was NOT selling anything so it was not because they believed me to be a trafficker. The informant came into where i worked for 2 weeks bugging me to get an ounce for him from the guy i was getting from. I told him no repeatedly and said i wasnt comfortable doin that. I did not know this man. Then one day he was waiting outside work for me and had me call so i did. Then the next thing i know im being arrested. I had been in trouble for unrelated charges approximately 5yrs prior and the lead detective on this case just happened to be the detective 5yrs ago. Ive been told by my public defender "which by the way they are all jokes" that an informant is supposed to know where to get the narcotic from. My question is considering hes never met me, doesnt know any of my friends, or ever hung out with me did he come to the conclusion that he could purchase marijuana from me. The only answer that i can come too is that the detective told him to come after me. Now if this is the case then it is unfortunate because the police did not do any sort of investigation before hand. I know that the lead detective was aware of where i was working because his house is not far from that location. It seems to me that he took it personal that i was working in his neighborhood so he used his position to remove me. My public defender can only say how do I prove this. I know that I am not the only person that this happens too. It is unfortunate that our law enforcement go as far as creating crime rather than looking for it.

@7 Tobacco smoke is more dangerous, numerous studies show positive correlation between smoking cigarettes & lung, neck & throat cancer. The few studies that have been done on cannibus smoke show a negative correlation between smoking pot & lung, neck & throat cancer. This is because THC has anti-oxidant properties.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles…

Also its very easy to ingest cannibus in without smoking the raw plant (vaporizer, edibles, etc.)

no justice no peace, fuck the police

I hope he sues the po-leece 'til they don't have a pot to piss in.

Same generic problem happening all over. Seems that there is this interesting new thing whereby the police/DA's, etc., have decided that their "job" entails a right to pick and choose what "they" think should be illegal, in spite of the actual laws. Way too many "police" forces think they have some constitutional obligation to continue to treat MMJ users as though they are law breakers. In a "real" country, the police would protect MMJ users/growers just like they protect anyone else. That isn't happening very much anywhere that has MMJ laws, even in California.

Same generic problem happening all over. Seems that there is this interesting new thing whereby the police/DA's, etc., have decided that their "job" entails a right to pick and choose what "they" think should be illegal, in spite of the actual laws. Way too many "police" forces think they have some constitutional obligation to continue to treat MMJ users as though they are law breakers. In a "real" country, the police would protect MMJ users/growers just like they protect anyone else. That isn't happening very much anywhere that has MMJ laws, even in California.

I can't even get the damned police to help me when my car has been broken into, or when there's a domestic disturbance next door 90% of the time. I actually get a flat out "there aren't enough resources" or some other BS excuse for why there won't be an officer coming to my place this time. But they have the resources (AND TONS OF THEM!!) to investigate this stupid shit???

Unbelievable.

The SPD is 6 months behind on publishing their "MONTHLY" OPA Reports of complaints against officers...

Some Chief Deputy is sitting on his backside instead of releasing them....what's up with that...

Why is the SPD 6 months behind on publishing MONTHLY OPA complaints against police officers?

As long as "public servants" ignore the "serve" in their job description, instead waging a "war" on its own citizenry, they will continue to dehumanize citizens and treat them as the enemy. This whole mindset MUST be revised.

As long as "public servants" ignore the "serve" in their job description, instead waging a "war" on its own citizenry, they will continue to dehumanize citizens and treat them as the enemy. This whole mindset MUST be revised.