Wow, quite a week. Here are some things going on as we roll into the new decade:
– The two major drug law reform bills introduced for this session, HB 1177 (decriminalization) and HB 2401 (legalization), will have a hearing in the Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Committee next Wednesday, January 13. The evening before, Rick Steves will be hosting a forum in Olympia about reforming our marijuana laws. The Seattle Weekly takes a look at the movement nationwide on this front. Dominic Holden writes about the political risks involved for Seattle-area legislators like Chris Hurst if they block these bills.
One of the contention points for these bills is that neither one adequately addresses the question of home grows. Bill HB 1177 leaves the existing language that governs medical marijuana law alone. However, HB 2401 removes that language without fully addressing what would happen to people (current medical users) who already grow small gardens from themselves, or as part of a non-profit co-op (it does, in some cases, reduce that crime from a felony to a misdemeanor). There are concerns that the state could more readily go after people for growing plants outside of the new regulatory system. One co-sponsor of the bill, Roger Goodman from Kirkland, noted this as an oversight and hopes to clarify the bill within the session. A group of medical marijuana patients were circulating some proposed language to address their concerns specific to the medical marijuana statutes, but as of yet, it hasn’t picked up a legislative sponsor.
– As 2010 begins, there are updates on what might be the most heart-rending drug war tragedies of the last two years. In 2008, a Prince George, Maryland County SWAT team raided the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo and his family. Police chased down and shot Calvo’s two dogs and kept his family hostage for several hours before realizing that they had absolutely nothing to do with the package of marijuana randomly mailed to their home in a scheme involving a corrupt deliverymen. A few weeks ago, a judge ruled that Calvo’s lawsuit against the officers can proceed.
This past September, the killing of Georgia pastor Jonathan Ayers was another drug war tragedy. Ayers, who was known for going out of his way to help people in need, was giving a ride to a woman with a history of drug abuse. Unfortunately, that woman was also wanted by the police. After dropping the woman off at a gas station, undercover cops in an unmarked Escalade descended on Ayers’ vehicle (the gas station surveillance video is here). Seeing people come out of a regular-looking car with no uniforms and guns, Ayers sped off. He was shot by one of the officers and drove off the road. He died after being taken to a hospital. This story, however, appears to have an even worse ending for Ayers’ widow and their unborn child, as a Grand Jury ruled that the officers did nothing wrong.
UDPATE: Another tragic event from 2008, the shooting death of mother-of-six Tarika Wilson in a Lima, Ohio drug raid, has ended with a $1.5 million insurance settlement, but no lessons learned.
the inside baseball stuff on the drug decrim. is interesting, but really, do these bills have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting passed?
what would be far more useful is a roster of all legislators and where they stand on this issue, combined with their answers when you asked them “well you smoked pot, didn’t you? your kid smoked pot and you didn’t think she should go to jail, right? you know of your neighbor’s kids who smoked pot, you didn’t nark them out to put them in jail, did you?”
That would be info we could use to pressure the hypocrites. Who are the legislators who oppose decriminalization, where is the scorecard?
“MEXICO CITY — The body of Hugo Hernandez, 36, was left on the streets of Los Mochis in seven pieces … [and] the assailants skinned Hernandez’s face and stitched it onto a soccer ball. The [incident] … represents a new level of brutality in Mexico’s drug war, in which torture and beheadings are almost daily occurrences.”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....es_section
I’ll bet the cops also called Ayers a hero and went en masse to his funeral to pay their respects.
Well, maybe in the next world.
KING 5 News reports that two guys were watching a football game and drinking beer. Then they decided to paddle kayaks from Bainbridge Island to Seattle in the middle of the night. Then they capsized two miles off Magnolia. Then they called for help on a cell phone. Then they were rescued by the fire department. It could have been worse — at least they hadn’t been *gasp* smoking pot.
“Officers said when they pulled them from the water, they could smell a very strong odor of beer on the two. The two men were wearing street clothing and personal flotation devices, but no wet suits.”
http://www.king5.com/news/2-ka.....95317.html
Click here for photo of redneck kayak. http://tinyurl.com/ycr48g2
Yep, we gotta keep maryjane illegal, because there’s no telling what some people might do if they get high on the Evil Weed!!
Hawaii Plans To Leave Congress Seat Vacant
Hawaiian election officials say they don’t have money to hold a special election to fill a congressional seat being vacated by a congressman who resigned to run for governor. The special election would cost $925,000 and they have only $5,000 left for this budget year.
http://www.komonews.com/news/n.....69787.html
Giuliani Says No Terrorism Attacks Under Bush
“We had no domestic attacks under Bush,” Giuliani said. “We’ve had one under Obama.”
http://www.komonews.com/news/n.....66602.html
Let’s skip over 9/11/01, which apparently happened in France or Portugal or someplace, that still leaves Richard Reid and the LAX shooting and the anthrax attacks and that rightwinger who shot up the liberal church and the guy who slammed a car into pedestrians to “avenge Muslim deaths” and the Jewish Federation shooting in Seattle and the grenade attack on the Mexican consultate in New York City and the pipe bomb attacks at the San Diego federal courthouse and the Chinese cyberattacks and the numerous attacks by ecoterrorists, white supremacists, right-to-lifers, and so on.
It’s getting hard to tell which GOP presidential aspirant is more idiotic, Palin or Paul or Huckabee or Giuliani or …
Just a reminder to everyone here, this is not an open thread. If your off-topic comment leads to intelligent discussion, however, I’ll let it stay up. On the other hand, if your off-topic comment is an attempt to be obnoxious or monumentally dumb, it will be deleted.
@ 9…geez Lee – Goebbels Rabbit pollutes ever single thread here with off topic garbage, and you guys never do anything about it…..
@10
If the off-topic comment has value to the thread, I’ll leave it up. If it’s just annoying non-sense, I’m going to remove it.
Roger provided a few links that are rather interesting to the general interest of all, so I’m leaving them up. All of the comments that I just deleted were attempts by two people with unhealthy obsessions with me to make this thread about me. That’s not the point of these threads. No one – other than them – wants these comment threads to be about me. I’m a pretty boring dude.
@1
I suspect the legalization bill will prove to have more legs in the legislature than anyone including it’s sponsors thinks it will. On the other hand I suspect enough legislators will chicken out that it won’t pass.
I do think the decriminalization bill stands a good chance though.
The best thing to ensure the passage of both bills is to flood the Governor and the legislature with letters in support of HB1177 and HB2401.
A really smart tactic for 2012 for McKenna would be to come out in support of the decriminalization bill. It will make him seem more independent and is likely to get him at least some support from independents and liberals. It also boxes Gregiore in, she’s either going to have to go all “law and order” to counter or support the legalization bill.
My name is Tyler I am from Washington state and my mother is one of those who uses for medical reasons. Rather then being all trashed on pain killers, she uses marijuana….I am hoping that in the process of making pot decriminalized that they will not come down on the home-growers for medical use….I have heard that they have been in California and Oregon will this happen here in WA State too?????