cannabisnews.com: Weeding Out City's Initiative





Weeding Out City's Initiative
Posted by CN Staff on September 02, 2003 at 09:24:17 PT
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer 
Seattle residents should think a good deal about an initiative that would tell police to make enforcement of marijuana possession by adults their lowest criminal priority. Then voters should say no to Initiative 75.The plan is overly prescriptive, unnecessary and, most importantly, directed at the wrong audience -- local police instead of national and state political leaders.
It's the feds who need to wake up and smell the coffee long enough to change the country's misguided drug policies. Passing this initiative might make reformers feel good, but it won't change the laws.The way to reform the law is by doing so upfront and honestly. Initiative 75 is closer to a wink-and-a-nod suggestion to police that they have better things to do. In fact, police know that already. Officers on the street pay little or no attention to looking for marijuana users to bust. Prosecutors apparently make marijuana possession a low priority, especially when no other crimes are involved. Approval of Initiative 75 would make a number of reasonable statements. Society faces a lot bigger problems than marijuana. The punishments for possession of small amounts are excessive. And the national war on drugs is misconceived, cold-hearted and, ultimately, unworkable.That's all true. Voters need to talk about the issues between now and the primary. But the focus must be on changing the bigger picture, not making a near-pointless statement.Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)Published: Tuesday, September 2, 2003Copyright: 2003 Seattle Post-IntelligencerContact: editpage seattle-pi.comWebsite: http://www.seattle-pi.com/Related Articles and Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Hazy Future for Marijuana Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17193.shtmlRally Calls For Reform of Marijuana Law http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17168.shtmlWinking at Pot Use is Risky Businesshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17104.shtml
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