cannabisnews.com: Council To Form Marijuana Committee





Council To Form Marijuana Committee
Posted by CN Staff on January 15, 2004 at 09:45:12 PT
By Maureen Trantham
Source: UW Daily
Sit back, roll a joint and relax. There's little to worry about, thanks to Seattle's voter-approved Initiative 75. Passed in November 2003, the initiative mandates the City of Seattle to regard adult personal use of marijuana as its lowest law-enforcement priority.However, the Seattle City Council is reviewing the effects of the law and forming a panel to consider whether the law is beneficial to the city and its public image.
The panel, consisting of council members, community representatives, prosecuting attorneys and public defenders, as well as drug prevention specialists, will receive semi-annual reports from the Seattle Police Department and the city attorney on marijuana arrests and prosecution to "assess and report the effects of the ordinance."Offering diverse perspectives on the implementation of the initiative, members are highly regarded, according to the office of Peter Steinbreuk, City Council president. Members range from the chief of staff of the King County prosecuting attorney, Dan Satterberg, to the chairman of Initiative 75's steering committee, Dominic Holden.Required to meet a minimum of four times per year, the panel must submit a comprehensive written report to the City Council that will include information concerning the public safety, administration, health and fiscal ramifications of the initiative by January 2006.Initiative 75 contends that Seattle and other Washington taxpayers are already "burdened by the substantial costs of investigating, arresting, prosecuting and jailing of individuals for marijuana possession." It says that de-prioritizing the use of marijuana as a misdemeanor, the Seattle Police Department will be able to channel its time and resources toward the prevention of "more serious" offenses.Furthermore, in 1998, Seattle voters approved a measure to protect physician-recommended marijuana use for treatment of such serious medical conditions as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and AIDS. However, until November, this sort of usage warranted prompt arrest and prosecution."Seattle police reported making 418 marijuana arrests in 2001 -- an average of about eight a week. In the six weeks since Initiative 75 was passed, there have been fewer than five arrests," said Holden, the panel's community representative in a December interview.Panel member and City Attorney Tom Carr believes that Initiative 75 sends the wrong message about marijuana use in the community, especially to young people: that it's OK to smoke marijuana."Initiative 75 cannot change the fact that possession and distribution of marijuana is a crime," Carr wrote. When asked whether or not the Seattle Police Department has been affected by the implementation of the initiative, spokeswoman Deanna Nollette responded, "It hasn't affected our to day-to-day operations. We rarely made arrests before." The Initiative 75 panel plans to meet in the next few weeks in order to elect a chairperson. Their next order of business in response to Seattle Police Department data is the establishment of reporting criteria by March 31, 2004.Source: UW Daily Online (WA)Author: Maureen TranthamPublished: January 15, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Daily University of WashingtonWebsite: http://thedaily.washington.edu/Contact: http://thedaily.washington.edu/feedback.lassoRelated Articles:Marijuana Initiative No Way To Change Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18138.shtmlSeattle Approaches Sensible Drug Policy http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18094.shtmlSeattle City Council Names Pot Panel http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18072.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by aolbites on January 15, 2004 at 12:54:22 PT:
87.5% reduction in arrests
87.5% reduction in arrests"It hasn't affected our to day-to-day operations. We rarely made arrests before."it might have seemed rare to them before but i bet the 87% of people they didn't arrest sure noticed the difference.
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on January 15, 2004 at 11:46:07 PT
Stomping on the prohibitionists
Nixon used to say China was a sleeping giant. Those for freedom have been sleeping and they are the giant about to awaken. The protest in the UK will be starting with a meeting on January 21st at noon. Protest should be on January 28th and 29th calling for the release of Chris Baldwin, who gave up his hunger strike, and also calling for the the immediate legalization of cannabis. The British of course use an s in legalisation.A posting at Hempcity should be up after the first rally next Wednesday.Hempcity also had a link to Japan where there are horror stories about prohibition- http://www.taima.org/
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