good times.

I was all for the N.A.W. group until I actually read the initiative and compared it with the sections of current state law. It is a freaking disaster! It would effectively negate the current medical marijuana law and criminalize acts which are now legal. It's the sort of thing you would expect from a bunch of Puritans.

You cant drive High! don't take a wizard of harry potters class to figure that one out!

You cant drive a car if you cant see well and you cant get a CDL if you have any medical condition that in any case may make you grey out or black out.

as for driving around suffering with leukemia or brain cancer? well? most people cant even put the cell phone down and those are the smart ones? the dumb ones are texting and playing multi player games as they roll down I-5.

But I don't get the you can buy it but cant grow it? unless its a prelude to a license of some sort? like home distillery or gun powder or people who have large caliber machine guns at home?

@Slade I don't want to legalize stoned driving. We already have laws against stoned driving. I don't know why NAW had to create new ones for political points. Educate, don't concede.

Doug Hiatt went from a leader and ally of the cause to a bitter old man who needs to go back to defending people in court and let some people who can plan an initiative do some work. Sorry you couldn't play nice long enough for the unions and drug policy reform folks to fund you, Doug and Phil. Maybe if you shout FUCK YOU at activist meetings some more you will get a couple more juggalos to carry some petitions next year.
Seriously Doug? You're calling Alison and NAW a piece of shit? And your response is something that sounds like a stoner pun? Gee, let's work our asses off for something a couple stoners came up with over bong tokes and cheetos! Cuz fuck politics man, legalize it all woooooo! You are a god damn embarassment.

I talk pretty fast so to quote only 19 words from 24 minutes on the phone is pretty weak.
I'm no journalist, but shouldn't getting the story right be important?

Dominic Holden mentions "...activists at each others throats."
Then he mentions NAW and presents their talking points. Then he quotes Douglas Hiatt of Sensible Washington (SW) and mentions their lacking enough signatures with I-1068 and I-1149.

Douglas Hiatt is not involved in any way with YEP (and SW is not an initiative), yet you wouldn't know it from reading this piece. SW has no initiative at Hempfest as Dominic implies. And he makes no mention of I-505 Sponsor Lacy City Councilman Ron Lawson. I don't think he was even called for comment, but plenty of ink for Hiatt. Why?

SW and NAW may be at each others throats, (or rather Hiatt and Holcomb are) but don't paint YEP with that brush. When asked, I said,'There are people that want to keep prohibition, there are those that want decrim, those that want to remove penalties and those that want to end prohibition. The public will see each premise side by side, educate themselves and vote their consciences.'

As for NAW taking the high road, one need only see their Facebook postings that have so many comments removed (see their new product page regarding controlling the message) the threads don't make whole cloth. Alison can say they have 85-100 (just pick any number) petitioners set for HF, but check their ID (WA state?) against payroll or the paid gatherers list and I suspect you'll find few, if any, real volunteers. The YEP page let's it all stand and actually answers posts rather than deleting them. I suggest the YEP Volunteers will have a much easier time gathering signatures than NAW and by Sunday will be in many booths, while NAW will be in their own and welcome in few others.

When Dominic asked about the money needed to get 300,000 signatures, I told him YEP is about signatures, not money. I told him 1,000 people could commit to 300 signatures each and be sent a PDF to print their own, about 15 sheets at a cost of about $5-$6. That's $6,000 in value. Many will do more, some will do less, but they will do it for reform, not because of the money.

Then I told him about the money!
Grassroots WA (grassrootswa.org - still not live yet), is the full reporting organization that will take donations to pool and pay for signatures whether enough are received or not. Everyone who collects the first 301,000 signatures (including paid gatherers) will share in that fund according to effort. One signature, one share of the fund. If we get to December 30th and FAIL, the money goes out anyway according to shares. Those that can collect signatures will, those that cannot can donate so that others will.

I told him about petitions branded to groups and organizations that will have first shot at volunteers and donations.
This new and different method of inspiring volunteers and provoking paid gatherers to turn in rather than hold signatures for ransom either went over his head or didn't seem important. No money to speak of=no interest. A trickle from true activists becomes a flood against the checkbooks of a few that have much.

Then he mentions the I-505 filing. No mention of the separation from SW, just "That approach, says spokesman Don Skakie, would let you "grow it for yourself" without paying taxes on the pot." without context to NAW's preventing anyone from growing, and only being able to buy it at stores at almost 4 times current contraband pricing. Some will be happy to buy and pay tax. If that is the case, others SHOULD be able to grow their own. One 1/2 ounce legal and the other contraband? That's reform? NAW!
(I doubt I used the word 'pot' or that I used the word approach, but no matter.)

Dominic writes, "On the other end, activists take a more fundamentalist approach (no penalties, grow at home, zero taxes, free the weed!)."
Few actually want or expect to live that dream.

What we want is law and regulation that is a result of an honestly educated public examining what actually is true and based on science rather than fear mongering and lies and arriving at an agreeable compromise rather than a small group dictating the law that would serve special interests rather than the public interest.

We want an end to contraband pricing, that we may put those dollars into the legitimate economy, rather than the bloody hands of Narco-terrorists or the government through exorbitant taxes that trade one form of oppression for another.

We want Law Enforcement to turn their attention to issues that affect the public, not their friends and neighbors.

We want fair, evenhanded treatment for cannabis that is enjoyed for every other safe plant in commerce.

I have no doubt that Alison and NAW want a victory in 2012, I just doubt they care who pays the price for that victory. Dominic is right that division in our state (not just Seattle) could prevent reform here, but with what NAW has put out and YEP combining the efforts of many groups and individuals, we stand to have one or both before the legislature, or more likely on the ballot in November.

California's prop 19 defeat 46% YES to 54% NO
(a 4% plus one vote defeat and an 8% DIFFERENCE) can be our victory when ALL cannabis reform groups and activists work to get I-505 qualified in a way no one group and their volunteers have been able to yet. Meet me outside the South gate for HF YEP Volunteer Orientation Thursday August 18th at 7PM and we'll see what happens this weekend.

Volunteers, good luck reaching Alison Holcomb or getting straight answers from NAW, but you can reach me at 425-572-0899 or post on the YEP WA Facebook page and I'll tell you where we stand!

Stoner Standoff? Catchy title, but makes fluff of a serious subject. Just ask Obama.

This stoner supports an initiative that soccer moms will vote for. NAW all the way.. Juggalos and weed dealers love SW and this 505 BS.. Good luck with that..

This stoner supports the initiative that socccer moms will actually vote FOR... NAW baby. Keep your juggalos and dealers to yourself Doug Hiatt...

Unlike alcohol, cannabis causes different levels of impairment in different people. NAW doesn't measure impairment in drivers, it measures levels of THC in the system, which is just wrong. At this very moment, I probably have the level they set for safe driving in my system, yet I'm not high at all. THC is stored in fat. NAW wants to arrest fat people.

When I was facing prosecution, Alison Holcomb and the ACLU told me good luck and find a good attorney. Don Skakie found me a good attorney and lobbied him hard until he helped us. Don Skakie drove the 6 hrs over here at least 3 times to make sure I had friends with me in court.

DON SKAKIE IS THE REAL DEAL! GO i505!

When I was facing prosecution, Alison Holcomb and the ACLU told me good luck and find a good attorney. Don Skakie found me a good attorney and lobbied him hard until he helped us. Don Skakie drove the 6 hrs over here at least 3 times to make sure I had friends with me in court.

DON SKAKIE IS THE REAL DEAL! GO i505!

Just Decriminalize it, like Alcohol. There was a damn good piece of initial legislation by Sen. Kohl-Welles until it got watered down and corrupted into the piece of shit we have today.

Bickering and trying to play to a public the way both of them are doing will get nowhere, again.

@4 you're wrong. the NAW intiative would not touch the current medical marijuana laws.

just....goddammit so much. We just need a "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" moment or nothing is ever going to happen. Instead of the black market and law enforcement being the only players on the block making cash off of this very real industry, now we have a multi-sided political faction making money off of it too. Playing both sides of the argument for bucks and prestige. How about this? Just stop fucking with people for what they might do and and start going after dirtbags (cough cough wall street) who really break laws that mess with everyone's lives.

Hiatt, Steinborn and the stoner clan have turned into assholes and these stoners from YEP will never get shit passed because they're too stoned to even grasp the concepts and nobody likes them because they’re a bunch of greedy fucks. They’re so stoned that they don’t seem to realize that by just removing the penalties, the Feds would jump in and shut down anyone in the state who’s making money…’cause they ain’t getting their share… Yup YEP…it's about the money Mutha Fuckas!

YEP supporters are also spewing bullshit and falsities about NAW too. Not only does the NAW initiative not address MM (nor effect) our MM law at all, the one effect that it does have is it LEGALIZES small amounts of pot therefore offering PROTECTION from arrest, which, as we all know, is sorely needed because cops still srrest people possessing MM cards.

Fuck the whole MM community…well…almost. We all know that 95% of all MM card holders don’t have a legit qualifying condition…that’s why those “puppy mill” doctors exist. Now there’s nothing wrong with wanting to get high and be left alone but the Washington MM scene is no longer about that.

We need to get rid of all the fucking idiot quack doctors and profiteering "dispensaries" that are fucking it up for everyone. I've sold pot for 35 years and I absolutely disdain the whole MM scene because it's a crock of shit. Let's legalize it, tax it and sell it in fucking stores...then all those clowns I'd never sell to would have a place to go without getting a phony doctor rich...and when I'm out of town my clients can go to the fucking store and buy it.

I’ve always sold pot as a service, not as a money making scheme and I’ve said for 30 years that if the government ever puts me out of business by legalizing it, then I was successful…

Oh yeah...and Don...you're full of shit and are proof that the whole "sensible Washington" crowd just don't grasp it. The YEP initiative will just make a few hippies rich...and fuel the bogus MM crowd... It offers ZERO protection from the feds. And please tell me why all the big illegal growers support YEP and against NAW? Because NAW takes the money away by legalizing it. So fuck you Don - you're not gunna get rich in this state...go move to Cali...

Its Washington law and like Washington taxes and Washington transportation projects you just don't know until the fat lady sings and go's home and go's to bed and starts snoring?
Rick Perry may get elected to office next year and everything will change?

There is no protection from the feds!
Seattle is nothing but rich ignorant hippies!
lowest criminal priority is not legal!

as the nation and state cant provide health care thats even resembles affordable you can bet the state that cant do anything but tax and screw it to death will do just that and overnight like tiger woods

Sensible Washington should be 100% behind New Approach and their power players.

You are letting great be the enemy of good. Fight too hard and everyone loses.

@Banned If YEP wins, there will be NOBODY getting rich. Everyone will simply grow their own - just as they should be if they choose - just as they do if they want tomatoes or parsley.

I've now spent two whole days at HempFest and I saw about 300 people collecting signatures for 502 and NONE for 505. I did find one in a booth to sign....

It's beyond stupid that they got so stoned they weren't able to get anyone out to collect signatures at Hempfest! SHEESH!!!!

@unregistered user...

If YEP wins everyone will not grow their own just as they are not now...it's not an easy job! So who will your average Joe Blow go to? The same kids selling 1/2 grams on The Ave for $20 that they go to now...

Also, since people that know how to grow will start growing more...they'll have to sell it somewhere right? Geez....didn't think of that did you...YES...stoners that grow will get RICH...and taxes won't be paid and the FEDS will raid anyone being open about what they're doing...and making money...

Duh...

Most people will GO TO THE STORE

NAW's initiative is shit- VOTE NO.

If you want mainstream people supporting the legalization of marijuana then you have to do a few things:
1) Get it out of the hands of our youth (who are the last people that should be taking it) and into the hands of cancer patients, grannies with arthritis and MS sufferers.
2) Sell it only in absofuckinglutely non-profit, open-book clinics.
3) Regulate anyone and everyone who deals with it in bulk.
4) Allow people to grow up to five plants in their home...if they actually need it and can demonstrate that to multiple doctors.

What your communities don't want is the fucking free-for-all that we have had here in LA during the last five years. Kids are tuning out and organized crime has been gunning down clinic operators.

@16, Right on!

Banned, you're forgiven for your ignorance.
I'm sure you never made a dollar profit from all your years of 'Good Works'.

@24, If everyone grows, you won't be able to sell it. People will go to the store for a safe product or get it from friends and family they trust. No one will be 'forced' to sell excess, they can simply compost it.

When the money spent on contraband cannabis is no longer, that money will find its way into the legitimate economy.

Doug Hiatt is one of the few people that is not afraid to talk about the issues, and hes completely right! This bill (I502) is horrific, and the "DUI tests" they are trying to impose on us are at best and extremely dangerous and flawed science and at worst a way to profile and arrest anyone that they thinks smokes (which in Washington state is one out of every 2 adults 21 and over) the legal limit they are trying to impose is a limit of 5milligrams per 100th, which is a tiny amount, and with the build up of cannabinoids (which they will say they are testing for ACTIVE cannabinoids but those stay just as long and build up with use) Pete Holmes is lying to you, and hes not even doing it well, if anyone went to Hempfest for the reasons its there (aka listing to the issues and getting information instead of only getting high and eating elephant ears until you puke) you would have heard him speak Saturday at Hemposium and would realize not only is he a slimey lying sack of political shit, but hes a coward that can't talk about issues, he beamed about 502 for about 10 minutes at the end of his panel (which Doug Hiatt was conviently missing for...thanks to political pressure from, you guessed it our esteemed City Attorney) and then shut everything down when people starting asking him about the issues. Do your research before you sign anything, we need legalization and regulation, but not at this cost

I don't think you can keep kids out of anything save for school and homework and chores?

They were using heroin in a middle school some few years back?

the circle jerk is Olimpia and the feds and the cash paying public?

like the start of the civil war its about states investing time and effort and cash with its people and a federal law that can at anytime let the federal government take all the cash and all the people and all the pot away overnight federal express?

As people are dieing more from prescription drugs then they are from illegal drugs we could yack about morals and do the red neck white socks and blue ribbon beer until Hank Williams comes back to life and still not be relevant to today and how we can generate much needed good from a sure fire business plan?

but until "Washington state" makes it legal and backs it up with middle fingers to the feds? well its a pipe dream in my book and as it is the state and city's are flaky about medical pot as it is!

I'm concerned that by depriving people of the right to grow their own marijuana, we create an opening for big business to take over in this realm. There are already reports coming out of Columbia that Genetically Modified Cannibus is selling for up to ten times as much as non-Frankenbuds. I agree that the current situation must change, but let's make sure that we're not just setting ourselves up for bigger problems down the road.