HorsesAss.Org

At it’s convention this weekend, Washington State Democrats voted overwhelmingly both to endorse Initiative 1068, which would legalize the sale and use of marijuana, and to oppose initiatives 1100 and 1105, which would privatize liquor sales, shuttering Washington’s profitable State Store monopoly.

And while Slog’s Dominic Holden might find it “weird” for Dems to support liberalizing the sale of pot while opposing the same for liquor, I don’t. In fact, as I wrote last year, our State Store system actually provides our fast and surest path toward rationalizing marijuana laws in Washington state:

Other states may be further along the political path toward de facto legalization, but no other state, with the exception of my native Pennsylvania, has a more robust system already in place for effectively executing it. Washington already heavily regulates the in-state manufacture of wine, beer and distilled spirits, and maintains an extensive statewide network of retail stores and distribution centers for the sole purpose of operating its exclusive monopoly on the retail sale of liquor. A similar monopoly on the legal sale of marijuana would not only be easily implemented, but highly profitable for taxpayers and state farmers alike.

At an estimated street value of over $1 billion a year, marijuana is already Washington’s number two cash crop, second only to apples, and consistently ranking us among the top five pot-producing states.  By legalizing and regulating a crop that is already being grown, the state could impose standards of consistency and quality on the product, and by setting prices as the only legal buyer for the crop, farmers could be assured a stable, legal income for their efforts.

And considering the existing federal ban on marijuana, and the federal government’s constitutional authority over interstate commerce, Washington’s State Stores, by necessity, would initially only be able to buy and sell state-grown product, thus nurturing a nascent hemp industry that would eventually produce a valuable export commodity once the ban is lifted nationally, perhaps even dominating the market.

As for retail and consumption, the same restrictions that apply to the sale and use of liquor would apply to the sale and use of marijuana, with the state likely maintaining prices at or near current street levels. The result would be hundreds of millions of dollars a year in additional state revenues, plus hundreds of millions of dollars in savings from law enforcement and incarceration (not to mention the elimination of the incalculable human suffering caused by our current prohibition.) Distribution to minors, for profit or otherwise, would be strictly prohibited and harshly punished, as would driving under the influence of marijuana. And just as consumers may already legally make their own beer and wine for their own consumption, the current guidelines on medical marijuana could be easily adapted to apply to all home growers.

This isn’t some half-cocked, pot-induced fantasy (I don’t personally use the stuff) but rather a pragmatic, rational, working model for legalization. I don’t know what Dominic is smoking or drinking when he says he’ll vote for both the marijuana and the liquor privatization initiatives (you’d think that hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenues would be enough to offset the inconvenience of not being able to buy a bottle of Maker’s Mark at 3AM), but given the self-destructive failure of marijuana prohibition, and the way its widespread illicit use undermines respect for the law by normalizing its violation, now is exactly the wrong time to dismantle our best path toward legalization by rashly dismantling our State Store system.

No state is better positioned to move our nation’s marijuana laws forward. Let’s not blow it.

UPDATE:
Dominic points out via email that in pursuit of a springboard I quoted the word “weird” out of context:

Sure it seems weird, but this comes down to cash.

So yeah, Dominic was actually explaining why it’s not all that “weird.”  My bad.

That said, I still find it weird that somebody like Dominic, who understands the budget impact of liquor privatization, would vote for it regardless.

Posts of mine occasionally get mentioned in the Seattle Times, with and without attribution, but it’s been quite a while since they’ve printed the full name of my blog in their print edition, and actually threw me a link from anywhere but their blogs:

DelBene will try to capitalize on a gaffe Reichert made this month, when he told a gathering of Republican precinct-committee leaders that some of his pro-environment votes were an effort to prevent environmentalists from trying to unseat him. Reichert thought he was speaking in confidence, but a recording of the meeting was leaked to the political website HorsesAss.org.

Huh. Must’ve slipped past the editors.

And in case any visitors from the Times are wondering, this is the leaked audio the reporter is talking about.

– Senator Robert Byrd has passed away at age 92.

– Dave Weigel’s ouster last week was incredibly disheartening. He’d become one of my regular reads in recent months and I hope he finds a new home.

– Greenwald writes about how the McChrystal affair showcases our broken media culture. He also uses the Weigel affair to make some very similar points.

– Arizona’s Governor is even too crazy for McCain.

– State Democrats endorsed I-1068, but not without some consternation:

There was a small political skirmish here in Vancouver this afternoon—delegates made motions to consider 1068 separately, to extend debate, and to officially endorse the initiative. [State Vice Chair Sharon] Smith said that, “we expected this to come to a floor discussion. There are some things that are clearly Democratic party values, and then there are things like this that aren’t so clear.”

I’m not really sure what the heck Smith is referring to with that comment, so I went to the Washington State Democrats homepage to see if my previous notions of what Democrats stood for have changed radically in the past week. Here’s what they have listed on their “What We Stand For” page:

– Maintaining safety and security while seeking peace and cooperation

This is pretty obvious. I-1068 will greatly reduce crime by taking the production, sales, and massive profits out of the hands of criminal organizations. Crime decreased significantly after the end of alcohol prohibition, and it will do the same after the end of marijuana prohibition for exactly the same reason.

– Sustainable stewardship of our environment

The establishment of above-ground marijuana production and distribution will allow for environmentally responsible growing, rather than the environmentally destructive ways that it’s grown today.

– Fairness and economic opportunity, access to quality education and health care for all

I-1068 will finally allow for doctors and patients to openly discuss the benefits and risks of marijuana without fear of arrest or retribution. It will also provide for a large number of new above-ground jobs, just as what occurred when alcohol prohibition ended and legal beer distribution started up again.

– Equal treatment of all before the law

Drug law enforcement is arguably the single biggest problem with respect to ensuring that all people get treated equally within our criminal justice system.

– Fiscal responsibility, integrity, openness and accountability in government

One estimate from UW put the amount of money saved by the state after marijuana legalization and regulation at $105 million per year.

– Personal freedom, security, and privacy

The Democratic party simply can’t claim that they stand for personal freedom if they also believe that marijuana needs to be kept illegal. The two beliefs are directly incompatible. You either believe in personal freedom or you believe that government exists to impose morality over private adult decisions.

I understand that for years this was a topic that voters couldn’t have rational conversations about, but those days are clearly over now. Even Fox News has been running a number of pro-legalization pieces recently. Coming out in support of ending marijuana prohibition doesn’t carry the risks that it once did, and it might even help win elections. It was good to see the delegates at the state Democratic convention take this stand. Hopefully, Sharon Smith and the other holdouts will notice that it’s not 1988 any more.

Last week’s contest was a challenge, but it was eventually solved by Don Joe. It was the FBI office in Pocatello, Idaho, which was one of a number of northwest federal buildings that received a package of white powder sent by some yahoo near Spokane. The white powder turned out to be chalk.

Here’s this week’s, good luck!

Proverbs 21:19
It’s better to live alone in the desert than with a quarrelsome, complaining wife.

Discuss.

Both the U.S. and Washington state constitutions guarantee the right to due process of law. That means that every citizen has the right to an attorney and the right to equal access to the courts… except, according to state Attorney General Rob McKenna, statewide elected officers, who only enjoy such fundamental rights given the blessing of the Attorney General, and solely at his whim.

Pore through the statutes and engage in all the legal hair-splitting you like, but such a broad interpretation of the powers of the Attorney General surely defies common sense, let alone legislative intent.

(And there are dozens of other links to media from the past week in politics posted at Hominid Views.)

So I just read in the Seattle Times “Rossi’s final real estate talk canceled,” and what immediately struck me, apart from the obvious, is that the headline is written in the passive voice. Notice how the headline doesn’t employ the preferable active constuction, “Rossi cancels final real estate talk…” because, well, he didn’t. And that’s the real story here.

[Seminar organizer Steven] Marshall would not reveal how much Rossi had been paid for the seminars, citing confidentiality. But he said Rossi could have gotten out of them after declaring his Senate bid.

“If he had called me up and said ‘I want out of this,’ we would have let him out instantly,” Marshall said.

It was Marshall who canceled Rossi’s remaining talk, out of concerns that he might run afoul of campaign finance laws. Rossi apparently never asked to be let out of his contract, instead choosing to conduct seminars advising fellow real estate speculators how to profit off the foreclosure crisis, even while in the midst of a U.S. Senate campaign.

Weird.

I just rode light rail into town for the first time in, I dunno, maybe two months, and at 12 noon, I’d never seen the train this full. Standing room only for much of the ride, with a helluva lot of suitcases clogging the aisle. I’d say that’s a good sign for Sound Transit, which has seen an uptick in ridership recently.

Oddly, it was also only the second time I’d seen security check riders’ tickets, and on my very full car, only two freeloaders were pulled off the train to be issued tickets. I’d say a compliance rate like that is a very good sign for ST too.

Opponents of Initiative 1107 — the beverage industry sponsored measure that would slash hundreds of millions from education and health care by repealing state taxes on soda, candy, gum and bottled water — are sponsoring a decline to sign campaign hoping to keep this well financed initiative off the ballot. You can learn more by going to Rebuilding Our Economic Future.

But what if you already signed I-1107, not realizing the measure’s impact, or snowed by the bullshit claims by many of the paid signature gatherers that it repeals a bill extending the sales tax to food? (It doesn’t.) Well it turns out that you can request the Secretary of State to remove your name from a petition if you change your mind before the deadline, and to make it easier, Rebuilding Our Economic Future is facilitating the withdrawal process online here.

Understand that the millions of dollars the beverage industry is pumping into this campaign has nothing to do with the interests of Washington state; it’s all about stopping it here before other states seek to raise taxes on calorie-laden soft drinks in the interest of public health. The beverage industry wants to make an example out of Washington state. Don’t let them.

You know I love you Josh, and I did my best to help you breath life into PubliCola, but honestly, how do you write this about Rob McKenna, without mentioning this?

I mean, the whole raison d’etre behind PubliCola at its onset was to help fill the huge news hole left by the sudden collapse of the Capitol press corps, yet this is exactly the kinda lazy conventional-wisdom-spouting-in-the-face-of-conventional-wisdom-changing-facts that McKenna is counting on to sneak his way into the governor’s mansion as, you know, a “different kind of Republican.”

Yeah sure, McKenna won a Supreme Court case he should’a won (thanks in no small part to the staff attorneys that actually wrote his brief), but the fact that he did his job for a change is not reason enough to ignore the times he doesn’t.

Really.

Every year at least one bill is introduced in the Washington State Legislature to cap payday lending rates somewhere short of the 391% annualized rate currently charged. And every year, due to a total lack of support by Republicans, and aggressive opposition from key, payday-industry-captive Democrats, the bill fails.

Yet Illinois — yes, famously corrupt Illinois — doesn’t seem to have the same problem reigning in legalized loansharking:

Payday loan predators have peddled consumer installment loans with interest rates which have averaged 341% in Illinois, but have also reached 1,000%. Under the new law, rates on consumer installment loans will be capped at 99% for loans $4,000 and less and 36% for loans greater than $4,000.

A few years ago, when a 99% top rate was floated here in WA as a compromise between the 391% currently charged and the 36% rate reformers had proposed, opponents screamed that it would be industry killer. Makes you wonder… if an industry can’t get by charging 99% interest, perhaps it shouldn’t exist?

Meanwhile, all reformers managed to squeeze out of the WA legislature was a law limiting customers to eight loans in a 12-month period, a measure intended to prevent borrowers from having their debt snowball indefinitely. Yet the industry quickly managed to run around even this modest reform.

You’d think Washington could do better in defense of some of our most vulnerable citizens.

A volunteer with the I-1068 campaign catches some paid gatherers in Tacoma duping people into signing another petition by telling them it’s the Marijuana Reform Act.

I’ve had several occasions throughout this signature gathering cycle where paid gatherers have expressed frustration over the difficulty for them to get signers for their initiatives. One lady outside of my local Safeway took a few of my I-1068 petitions because people kept asking her if she had it for them to sign. At Folklife, one of the paid gatherers shadowed me for a bit to try to get more signatures from the people who were signing I-1068.

But in the end, those less popular initiatives will be on the ballot while I-1068 may not be. It’s all about having the money to pay people to get the signatures, and that simple fact is something that has made me more fully appreciate the mess that our initiative system has become.

UDPATE: Obviously, if the scam described in the post above is more widespread than just this one incident, there’d be a certain number of people who think they’ve signed I-1068, but really haven’t (and therefore would decline to sign the actual I-1068 petition if offered). With yesterday’s Supreme Court decision, we may be able to have the traceability required to figure out who’s been scammed and who was doing the scamming. You’re required as a signature gatherer to sign your name to the petitions you turn in.