cannabisnews.com: I-75 is Not a Superfluous Haze 





I-75 is Not a Superfluous Haze 
Posted by CN Staff on August 10, 2002 at 12:15:59 PT
By Andrew Ko, Special to The Times
Source: Seattle Times
The statement made by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen that he "has confidence that law enforcement has not made marijuana arrests of casual pot smokers a high priority in the city of Seattle" is encouraging. ("Marijuana measure may be superfluous, some officials say," Times, Local News, July 26.) If Owen agrees with the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington that marijuana users should not be arrested, that would be one more good reason to pass Seattle Initiative 75. 
But, unattributed claims that the reforms proposed by I-75 would create additional burdens on the police are disingenuous. Clearly, not wasting tax dollars hunting and arresting people for marijuana does not require additional resources. And, the reporting provision of I-75 that requires the Seattle Police Department and City Attorney's Office to report marijuana arrests and prosecutions twice a year is hardly "burdensome," since the city should already be tracking these cases. Seattle's residents have a right to expect their municipal government to account for official acts that have such devastating effects on everyday people, their children and their neighbors. For decades, police in Seattle and throughout Washington have arrested people for using and growing marijuana. The City Attorney's Office may report that it pursued fewer than 150 marijuana misdemeanor prosecutions last year, but that figure appears to exclude people charged in Seattle by the King County Prosecutor's Office and the total number of people arrested for marijuana by the SPD. Nor does the city attorney's figure account for the thousands of Seattle residents who are exposed to arrest and prosecution daily for doing something that alcohol users and tobacco smokers do with no fear of criminal punishment. Who would claim that racial profiling is OK if "only" a hundred or so African Americans were arrested for "being in the wrong neighborhood"? How many people would advocate that their friends and neighbors lose their eligibility for educational loans, job opportunities, their family's home and the right to vote, based on conduct that was not violent and affected no one else's property? Yet, these all can be the consequences of a marijuana conviction — and sometimes even simply a marijuana arrest. Initiative 75 is not "superfluous." Passing I-75 is the right thing to do. We should make it our law. Guest Columnist: Andrew Ko is director of the Drug Policy Reform Project of the ACLU of Washington. Today: marijuana law enforcement needs monitoring. Source: Seattle Times (WA)Author: Andrew Ko, Special to The TimesPublished: Saturday, August 10, 2002 Copyright: 2002 The Seattle Times CompanyContact: opinion seatimes.comWebsite: http://www.seattletimes.com/Related Articles & Web Site:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/Marijuana Measure May Be Superfluous http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13546.shtmlPot - A Special Series - Seattle Weeklyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10673.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on August 10, 2002 at 13:24:28 PT
Can't argue with that
Maybe sanity will return if the Seattle Times and others abandon their old ways of "bad journalism."Broadband will be driving some nails into the prohibitionist's coffin. The Drug Policy Alliance has a video titled "Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug War." The forbiders are having their absurd beliefs attacked from all sides. Here is the video link: http://www.soros.org:8080/ramgen/tlc/tulia.rmWell here it is August and we are waiting on a Gallup poll that will poll people about their beliefs on legalisation of MJ. We have all had a full year to remember the 34% number from last year's USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll: http://www.soros.org/lindesmith/news/DailyNews/08_28_01Poll2.htmlI am still disappointed in the deal that was to get Zogby to do some polls for MPP. Where are they? Why didn't they start by asking the big question- Do you want marijuana regulated like T&A? The poll made it to USA Today's website on 8/24/01 so we are about due.The importance of the wording of the question is extremely important and I will copya paragraph of the above link:
The USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll results definitely bode well for the drug policy reform movement, but they do not reveal the full extent of public support for alternatives to a punitive drug war. Language is critical. Legalization is a loaded term in that it’s often used to conjure up images of slick mass marketing campaigns aimed at promoting drug use. Consider the findings of a February 2001 Pew Research poll. When questioned as to whether possession of small amounts of marijuana should or should not be treated as a criminal offense, 47% of respondents favored decriminalization. The same poll found that 70% of Americans favor allowing doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients. Pollsters have yet to use the term marijuana regulation, which implies enforceable age controls and controlled distribution aimed at undermining the black market."It is time to change the question and use the word regulation. It should tell us all something about the leaders of these non-profits calling for drug law reform. Who is going to look to them for answers when they do not even know the most important of questions? Change the word and ask the question in time to answer the new Gallup poll or continue the show of incompetence? Just how much does it cost to have Gallup call a thousand and some people anyway? Someone needs to get the question right and get an answer.1,2
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