One of the frustrating things about I-502 in Washington is that it is not the legalization initiative I would have preferred to see on the ballot. There are activists in Washington calling themselves “Sensible Washington” who are proposing a full repeal of all criminal laws on marijuana for 2013, something I’d love to see happen.
Like they did in 2011 with I-1149. And in 2010 with I-1068. You remember voting on those, right? You don’t, because neither of those attempts made the ballot.
For any legalization to be worth a damn, it has to do two things: 1) make the ballot and 2) gain 50%+1 votes from the electorate… not just well-educated pot aficionadi like me who see no problem in removing all criminal laws against cannabis and leaving absolutely no regulatory structure in its place, trusting the legislature to set regulations.
If you need any understanding of why all the fantastic activists in opposition to I-502 couldn’t get their legalization vision on the ballot, you only need to read this story of the firing of (former?) Sensible Washington organizer Philip Dawdy from one anti-I-502 group when his inaugural press conference is crashed by another anti-I-502 group.
I will fully support whatever is proposed for 2013 to continue us on the legalization path to full freedom. However, there is a step to that freedom on the ballot right now to pass, which Sensible Washington ought to hope passes, if they want to get on the ballot and pass in 2013.
Because if I-502 should fail, a measure that by all accounts (even mine) is the most conservative legalization measure ever proposed, the electorate is not going to go from rejecting “tokers can buy an ounce at a store” to accepting “anybody anywhere at anytime for any reason can grow as much marijuana and keep as much marijuana and use as much marijuana as they like, until the legislature sets some regulations”.
This is one of the funniest things to me. When it’s someone else’s initiative, the cops and the legislature are these wicked bastards who will use every loophole and technicality to oppress the stoners! But when it’s their initiative to absolutely deregulate marijuana, we can trust the legislature to come up with the regulations that the cops won’t abuse.
Pingback: Seattle Hempfest Day 1: We can disagree without being disagreeable | The Russ Belville Show