Washington i 502 - Legalize Decriminalize Hemp/Marijuana

This measure would license and regulate marijuana production, distribution, and possession for persons over twenty-one; remove state-law criminal and civil penalties for activities that it authorizes; tax marijuana sales; and earmark marijuana-related revenues.

Should this measure be enacted into law?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No

Argument For		Argument Against
Our current marijuana laws have failed. It’s time for a new approach. Initiative 502 frees law enforcement resources to focus on violent crime. Treating adult marijuana use as a crime costs Washington State millions in tax dollars and ties up police, courts, and jail space. We should focus our scarce public safety dollars on real public safety threats. Initiative 502 provides billions in new revenue for Washington State. Regulating and taxing marijuana will generate over a half-billion dollars annually in new revenue for state and local government. New funding will go to health care, research, and drug prevention. Initiative 502 takes away profits from organized crime. Marijuana prohibition has wasted billions of American taxpayers’ dollars and has made our communities less safe. Just as when we repealed alcohol Prohibition, we need to take the marijuana profits out of the hands of violent organized crime. Initiative 502 protects our youth. Decades of research show what works to prevent kids from abusing drugs. Based on this research, Initiative 502 restricts advertising and provides funding to proven prevention programs. It also provides funding to programs that help keep kids in school.		Two Different Perspectives Against Initiative 502: If You Support Legalization, Vote No On I-502I-502 would create laws that risk the incrimination of innocent people. The proposed per se DUI mandate will lead to guaranteed conviction rates of unimpaired drivers, due to an arbitrary, unscientific limit. A direct conflict with federal law will prevent any legal production, distribution, or retail of cannabis.With no home growing permitted, and no legal retail system, individuals will be forced to the same black market that promotes violence and crime in our communities. I-502 creates situations in which state employees and business applicants can be charged with manufacture or delivery of marijuana, money laundering, or conspiracy, due to self-incrimination. Sharing marijuana with another adult constitutes felony delivery. To learn more, or to support real reform, visit www.SensibleWashington.org.If You Support Safe & Healthy Communities, Vote No on I-502Legalizing marijuana will greatly increase its availability and lead to more use, abuse, and addiction among adults and youth. Most 12th graders currently report not using marijuana because it is illegal. Marijuana recently surpassed alcohol as the number one reason youth enter substance abuse treatment. I-502 provides no funding for additional treatment costs leaving that burden to taxpayers.I-502 creates new regulations without additional funds to enforce those regulations. Marijuana possession will still be illegal under federal law. This conflict leaves growers, users and employees who sell marijuana at risk for federal prosecution and taxes generated by I-502 subject to seizure by federal authorities.
Rebuttal of Argument Against		Rebuttal of Argument For
502 puts public safety and public health first. 502 keeps marijuana illegal for people under 21 and sets a marijuana DUI standard like we have for alcohol. 502 also provides hundreds of millions in new revenue for drug prevention programs that work. Finally, almost all marijuana law enforcement is handled by state and local police – it’s time for Washingtonians to decide Washington’s laws, not the federal government. Get the facts: www.NewApproachWA.org. Vote Yes on 502.		We agree that it's time for a new approach, but not the one offered in Initiative 502. It conflicts with federal law, voiding the possibility of any newly generated tax revenue. It decriminalizes marijuana possession, but not retail or home growing, forcing people to the dangerous black market. This decreases public health and safety and supports organized crime. Furthermore, our state simply can't afford the increased social costs associated with this initiative.
Argument Prepared By		Argument Prepared By
John McKay, U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington, 2001-2007; Kim Marie Thorburn, M.D., former Spokane Regional Health District Director; Leslie David Braxton, Senior Pastor, New Beginnings Christian Fellowship; Charles Mandigo, former Seattle F.B.I. Special Agent in Charge; Roger Roffman, UW professor and marijuana dependence treatment professional; Jolene Unsoeld,U.S. Representative, 3rd Congressional District, 1989-1995		Anthony Martinelli, Sensible Washington Steering Committee member, Communications Co-Coordinator;Douglas Hiatt, Lawyer; Gilbert Mobley,MD, Diplomat, American Board of Emergency Medicine; Jim Cooper,Substance Abuse Prevention Professional, Community Organizer;Steven Freng, Psy.D., MSW, Chemical Dependency Prevention/ Treatment Professional; Ramona Leber, Former Mayor City of Longview, Public Safety Advocate