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800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
I cannot fathom have elected citizen who is from the local community can turn their backs upon those that would benefit from a "state approved and structured program" that is designed to provide a reasonable and compassionate approach to ending cannabis prohibition.
Those that support his old racist law from 1937, either because of their religious dogma, or their reliance upon skewed data from NIDA and the Prohibitionist Movements only support suffering and the American Slave Trade with the For-Profit Prison Industry..and that is no longer acceptable positions for any public servant or elected offical.
The citizens of Washington are good people, with common sense and a desire to make this work for all. Certainly we can expect the same of the local elected officials....
Unlike the law on collectives, which the cities have almost universally violated, there was nothing in the law that required the cities to establish zoning for I-502 businesses. This would be a very tough case for the state and it would be a political hot-potato. Regardless, it would end up in court for years....so the AG threatening them is unlikely to have any effect on them.
Even "liberal" King County is making it nearly impossible to zone for a 502 business. What do you expect out of Benton or Yakima County?
The truth is that the cities and counties don't like cannabis...whether it's medical or recreational. They'll do everything they can to stop these businesses from being located in their jurisdictions. Even lawsuits haven't stopped them....so Holcomb's threat is farting in the wind.
But the more telling issue is the banking problem. They can't sue the Feds over that one and the hearing in Olympia made one thing perfectly clear....there would be no banks handling money from I-502 businesses and there will be no armored cars carrying cash and cannabis.
And then there's that pesky little matter of the Environmental Impact Statements that the LCB continues to ignore. That one is going to come back and bite them where it hurts. There's a court date on this, and other issues, on Friday in Thurston County Superior Court.
So now we have exactly the situation we predicted in 2011. Governor Inslee is going to side with law enforcement, just like his predecessor, and try to end medical cannabis in favor of the 502 businesses, and the 502 model is going to fall flat on it's face. Cannabis in Washington State will be set back 15 years and be behind the rest of the country in actually legalizing cannabis....not leading it.
Steve Sarich
Cannabis Action Coalition
I prefer the good old days of illegal pot. Except that the laws were enforced unequally against persons of color. THAT was the only good thing to come from 502.
As for finding an unbiased "jury of my peers", should I be busted for driving while impaired, good luck with that one after decades of THE WAR ON DRUGS. Gotta wait until everyone over 40 croaks to find that.
Why would the Governor be selling out to the feds in the first place. What happened to "we'll fight them in court" if they interfere?
Talk is apparently extremely cheap when it comes from Jay Inslee.
They are going to keep doing what they've been doing....and why would they stop? You think they'd leave us alone so that other states would start passing "legalization" laws....cause the Feds, all of a sudden like recreational cannabis? READ THE FRIGGIN COLE MEMO....but start with the last paragraph....and that's their policy....and that's what they just enforced today.
Everyone is still hoping for unicorns and fairy dust to pop out of Holder's ass for some reason.