Newly elected city attorney Peter Holmes will no longer prosecute minor marijuana possession offenses, according to a report published in The Seattle Times.
“[The city of Seattle] is no longer going to prosecute marijuana possession cases anymore,” said Holmes. The Times reports that Holmes has already begun dismissing cases that were filed by the previous city attorney, Tom Carr.
Holmes defeated Carr in the November 2009 election.
In 2003, Seattle voters approved Initiative 75, which requires that “the Seattle Police Department and City Attorney’s Office shall make the investigation, arrest and prosecution of marijuana offenses, when the marijuana was intended for adult personal use, the city’s lowest law enforcement priority.”
A 2008 citywide review of the ordinance reported “no evidence of any adverse effects of the implementation of I-75, including specifically: 1. No evident increase in marijuana use among youth and young adults; 2. No evident increase in crime; and 3. No adverse impact on public health.”
Tomorrow, Washington state lawmakers on the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness will vote on two pending marijuana law reform proposals, House Bill 1177 and House Bill 2401. House Bill 1177 seeks to reclassify the possession of forty grams or less of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to a class 2 civil infraction punishable by a $100 fine. House Bill 2401 seeks to “remove all existing civil and criminal penalties for adults 21 years of age or older who cultivate, possess, transport, sell, or use marijuana.”
The Committee is scheduled to vote at 1:30pm pst. You can watch this vote live here.
[UPDATE!!! If you live in Washington and have not yet contacted the Committee, you may wish to do so now, while you still can.
House panel to snuff out marijuana bills
via The Herald
[Excerpt]
Rep. Chris Hurst, chairman of the public safety panel, told me there are not enough votes to move either bill out of committee.
There are five Democrats and three Republicans on the committee. The Republicans will unite against the bills. Hurst and Rep. Al O’Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, both former cops, each said they will oppose the bills.]
“Why is it the Republicans always vote against? ”
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Why do I keep seeing this remark in comments when the article clearly states of the 8 members 5 are D’s, and you have two ex-cop Democrats on this committee that also voted against it per the article. Granted generically speaking R party members are less supportive but it’s not universal. The way to change that is not to call them names but win them over with libertarian arguments, that method has actually been working for some time. It may be a slow and long term process but it works.
It’s not what Your Country can do for You!
It’s what You can do for Your Country!!
*VOTE TO LEGALIZE MARAJIUANA*
Thanks for question, KH! It may be Republicans average out at about twice as pro-tobacco ($igarette-corporation-friendly) as Dems, because they average around 2/3 of Industry money most election years(statistics at Tobacco-Free-Kids website). Connection to cannabis issue, individual candidate example: Rudi Giuliani got twice as much tobackgo money as any other pres.candidate 2008, same Giuliani of the notorious “crackdown on pot” enforcement campaigns in NY in the 90’s.
Great post! I think Seattle is the best city in the world and has the best things to offer! I recently stumbled upon this blog that I found pretty funny in its reference to Seattle: http://burisonthecouch.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/theres-no-place-like-home-sort-of/
Thanks for the post! Seattle rocks!
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To the next! Cheers!!
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