I-502 marijuana possession now legal in WA.

[Big D]

For conversation purposes only (NO JUDGEMENTS)
As a product of the 70's and the Viet Nam era, I'm no stranger to marijuana. I served in the US Navy both pre and post urinalysis and have seen the difference. In my own life, I made the personal choice to quit the party life when my son was born in 1984. I currently work in a facility that provides drug and alcohol aftercare to addicted youth with felony records pre release. I see on a daily basis the damage that drug and alcohol abuse can inflict on kids and their families.
Both of my folks were alcoholics when I was a kid so I've walked the walk so to speak.
Any thoughts?

[bigskyx]

I voted in favor. Not because I intend to use but because of the effect it has on our jails and legal system. It seems silly to waste huge amounts of resources on such a trivial (IMO) activity. I really can't see a down side. I've never bought the "gateway drug" bit. What effects do you see from your perspective? Do you see negative impacts on people & families?

[AJ's Dad]

-

[Augwen]

I think that it is probably all about the money. The monet they will save on law enforcement and the money they hope to make on the taxes . I would imagine the Feds will get in on it sometime as well

[Gringo Pescador]

I can't find a bag of Doritos anywhere

I voted for it - not that I smoke anymore (like many, that was the life years ago) but because I think it is time. There are going to be problems of course, my hope is the benefit will outweigh in the form of tax revenue, jail space and legal resources going to more serious issues, and with my in laws living in Mexico any chance to take power away from the cartels the better.

On the other side, I know that if anything can screw something up, it is government regulations - so my "hope" is probably fleeting...

[G-Man]

Hey, I've never partaken in the product but have been around plenty of folks that have. My military service and the jobs I've held since I've been in the civilian sector mandate that I be screened randomly. I don't see pot use as any different than alcohol, as with any drug both can be abused. I believe that acceptance will catch on as more and more States legalize its use and a faster method for determining a person's intoxication level is developed. Right now the DOT, a federal agency, has not removed pot from its list of unauthorized substances so folks who use it recreationally or have a prescription are subject to disciplinary action should they test positive while holding a job where screening is required. Personally, I think that the entire hemp related industry is an untapped resource that is just about ready to pop. Once the federal government relaxes its restriction on growing hemp,I foresee it working its way back into the pulp and textile industries which would be a boon to the farming industry. As for it having a negative affect on children and adults, I don't buy into that. There are 2 types of people in the world, those that have an addictive personality and those that don't. Those that have an addictive personality will find something to abuse, be it food, tobacco, alcohol , energy drinks, controlled substances, etc. Which do you think has a more negative affect on person's health and social behavior, smoking pot or being wired on energy drinks every day?

[Amx]

Which do you think has a more negative affect on person's health and social behavior, smoking pot or being wired on energy drinks every day?

Both about the same. People are using the drinks as drugs nowadays. I was never stupid enough to do drugs, never even thought about trying it. Never drank either as my dad was an alchoholic, not a drunk tho.

So I say there are going to be LOTS!!!!!!!!!! MORE 'drug driving' accidents.

[Bodofish]

Is it better or worse than alcohol? I think it depends on the person. Are we going to go to hell because of it? Doubt it. What bothers me about the law is there are no clear cut guidelines pertaining to when a person is impaired. Current tests do not actually test for THC, they test for a compound that accompanies it, one that stays in your system weeks or months after use. That may work for employment purposes but surely not for someone who crashes while driving. I know there's been a lot of "Weekend Testing" on its effects and driving, are you impaired, yes, absolutely. Are you impaired in the same way as with alcohol, definitely not. I'm sure most of those that enjoy a puff would say they, "get really safe" after a few puffs and are very cautious. So I guess at this point we'll see, there is still no legal place to buy unless you have a green card from a Dr.. The State won't have licensed distribution set up until a year from now. My other thought is this may be a knee jerk reaction to deregulating alcohol sales, which I might add, blew up in everyone’s face, thanks again Costco. <Soapbox> Deregulation has never, ever resulted in lower prices for the consumer. It's a basic greed thing. <soapbox off> So good thing? Bad thing? Meh, it just is, people gonna do what people do.

For those that throw same sex marriage in with drug use, please get a life and stop hating.

[oneshot]

you ever fished?
yeah, but have you ever fished on WEEEEED?


not all weed smokers are party people. I know some pretty responsible smokers that have some pretty high scale positions..

facts:
Alcohol kills
Weed does not

a few glasses of wine, whiskey or beer is going to impair your driving more than a few tokes of weed will.. if anything you will just drive slower because of all the pretty lights..

[Rich McVey]

not all weed smokers are party people. I know some pretty responsible smokers that have some pretty high scale positions..

a few glasses of wine, whiskey or beer is going to impair your driving more than a few tokes of weed will.. if anything you will just drive slower because of all the pretty lights..

From personal experience and from being around those who use it. Im going to completely agree with the above statements. Just because you drink does not make you a drunk or an alcoholic, same with weed, just because you smoke does NOT make you a stoner.

Alcohol makes people more aggressive and I see this with drivers and with my own inclinations when drinking. I am going to say the opposite with weed where your more inclined to just go with the flow. They did 'medicalize' it for a reason, it has some legit medicinal properties. I don't look at it being legal as a big issue, its the fact that its been DE-CRIMINALIZED that makes the difference.

With everything, moderation is the key. Be safe.

Rich

[natetreat]

Is it better or worse than alcohol? I think it depends on the person. Are we going to go to hell because of it? Doubt it. What bothers me about the law is there are no clear cut guidelines pertaining to when a person is impaired. Current tests do not actually test for THC, they test for a compound that accompanies it, one that stays in your system weeks or months after use. That may work for employment purposes but surely not for someone who crashes while driving. I know there's been a lot of "Weekend Testing" on its effects and driving, are you impaired, yes, absolutely. Are you impaired in the same way as with alcohol, definitely not. I'm sure most of those that enjoy a puff would say they, "get really safe" after a few puffs and are very cautious. So I guess at this point we'll see, there is still no legal place to buy unless you have a green card from a Dr.. The State won't have licensed distribution set up until a year from now. My other thought is this may be a knee jerk reaction to deregulating alcohol sales, which I might add, blew up in everyone’s face, thanks again Costco. <Soapbox> Deregulation has never, ever resulted in lower prices for the consumer. It's a basic greed thing. <soapbox off> So good thing? Bad thing? Meh, it just is, people gonna do what people do.

For those that throw same sex marriage in with drug use, please get a life and stop hating.

The blood test that they will be using for DUI stops will be for a different chemical. I think that was a ocmmon misconception about the con side, the part that makes you "high" goes away after a few hours, and that's what the blood test tests for. Now I personally think that it's a big hassle, until we train our state patrol and cops to do field tests, because every suspected pot stop will involve police transit to a hospital for a blood test. I've been stopped for driving a little erratically in my youth from pulling all-nighters on the river when I was simply tired. Sure it was irresponsible of me, and I went to a rest area for a catnap, but if they suspected I was high, they'd have to take me 60 miles to the nearest hospital for a blood test. That's a big hassle IMO.

But I don't think it will be much of a big deal. I grew up around the stuff. If anything, the suspicious part is that you'll get pulled over for going exactly 60 mph, or 5 under.

But right now, it's legal to have and smoke, but not to buy, so I don't know what to think. Once they work the kinks out, I don't think there's going to be many problems with it. Employers can still do tests for it. Alcohol is way more of a safety hazard IMO, just look at the statistics on drunk driving deaths. I'm not an expert, but I'd like to see the stats side by side with pot driving deaths, and I would be willing to bet that it's not really comparable. A few shots of Patron and I'm sure nobodies safe to drive, but some of my friends parents have been smoking since the 60's and have high paying jobs and are daily users and function pretty well.

I don't think that the tax revenue will change much, with our deficits and current spending levels we'd have to sell a lot of weed to make that up. It doesn't really bother me, I doubt I'm going to go out and smoke it anytime soon though. Pretty sure that all that will happen is there might be an increase in cheesy poof sales and conversations starting with "Dude, I never really got Bill Burroughs until now..." and ending in "wow, that's heavy. Deep, man, deep."

A bunch more people " who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz," can't be all that bad. Not enough people listen to jazz any more.

[Rich McVey]

Pretty sure that all that will happen is there might be an increase in cheesy poof sales and conversations starting with "Dude, I never really got Bill Burroughs until now..." and ending in "wow, that's heavy. Deep, man, deep."

Somebody has been watching to many movies.

[Mike Carey]

I suspect the increased taxes taken in will vanish into thin air like the rest of the money we get taxed on - politicians are pretty good at spending more then they take in.

As to it being legal, as mentioned before, I doubt there will be a huge change in society. Reasponsible people will still be responsible, and stoners will still be stoned. Just like it is now. Teenagers already have easy access to pot, the only difference is they can now say to parents "well it's legal", just like alcohol. The driving issue - in my youth - people would both drink and smoke, and unfortunately that isn't likely to have changed. I have never seen a story about teenage driving deaths where pot was indicated as the cause of death, only alcohol. I only worry about drunk drivers, they are the scurge of our society. Perhaps as the drug related encarcerations go down we can make room for longer jail terms for drunk drivers. How about 30 years to life for killing someone while drunk driving, instead of 2-3 years?

Can I get an Amen on that?

[Amx]

Amen

[Augwen]

AMEN!!! There is a guy in Idaho that was in his 5th drunken accident. 10 DUI's and he was still driving!!!

[Mike Carey]

AMEN!!! There is a guy in Idaho that was in his 5th drunken accident. 10 DUI's and he was still driving!!!

not to hijack the Mary Jane thread, but that is sickening. Some judges need to be forced to drive with the drunk drivers they let go on light sentences.

[kingfisherman1]

What about judges who get DUIs? Like in Snohomish county? They are all hypocrites. Its about power.

[BARCHASER10]

I voted for it. I only did weed once back in the 60's. I wasnt that impressed.

One thing I've never seen mentioned, if you own a pot shop what do you do with the money you get from drug sales? There are some very serious federal laws (Money Laundering) that have been around for years that prohibit any bank from accepting drug money for deposit and also prohibit banks from facilitating drug sales. If your customer gives you a check you cant deposit it in a bank, same with cash.. you cant deposit that in the bank either. You cant have a card swipe terminal sponsored by a bank, that would be facilitating drug sales. These are "know your customer" laws and the bank cant use ignorance as an excuse. As a practical matter, bankers are in the community, they will know who has a pot shop and where the $ came from. Pot is a schedule 1 drug same as heroin, cocaine etc. Federal law takes precedence over any state laws. A bank would be insane to accept drug money. The monetary penalties can run into the millions. UBS was fined 700 million a few months ago.

[Augwen]

That is one of the reasons that the State says it has to take a year to figure it all out. Pot laws, from local to Fed, have had so much oversight that no one is going to be able to cover them all. I wish that they had waited on one hand and on the other I think it will force the Feds to make a decision. The "War on Drugs" has cost a lot of money that I feel could be better spent elsewhere.

[Mike Carey]

I voted for it. I only did weed once back in the 60's. I wasnt that impressed.

One thing I've never seen mentioned, if you own a pot shop what do you do with the money you get from drug sales? There are some very serious federal laws (Money Laundering) that have been around for years that prohibit any bank from accepting drug money for deposit and also prohibit banks from facilitating drug sales. If your customer gives you a check you cant deposit it in a bank, same with cash.. you cant deposit that in the bank either. You cant have a card swipe terminal sponsored by a bank, that would be facilitating drug sales. These are "know your customer" laws and the bank cant use ignorance as an excuse. As a practical matter, bankers are in the community, they will know who has a pot shop and where the $ came from. Pot is a schedule 1 drug same as heroin, cocaine etc. Federal law takes precedence over any state laws. A bank would be insane to accept drug money. The monetary penalties can run into the millions. UBS was fined 700 million a few months ago.

And that is the million dollar question - what will the Fed do? Politicians follow where the people lead. Standing against the will of the people isn't a smart move. Politicians tend to get thrown out of office if the tide rises high enough. It will be an interesting year to watch, that's for sure.

I will say this - the response of our senators and reps of this state (Cantwell, Murray, etc) has been pretty lame. Typical duck the issue behavior. I love when a politician has an issue they are in favor of, they will use the line "I was elected to make the tough decisions" - regardless that people oppose it. But then when something like this comes along they become all cautious and wait to see which way the wind blows. Spines are a rare commodity amoung our elected officials.

Contrast our state's congress people with that of Colorado -

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/lo ... tes-rights

Why aren't our representatives joining the Colorado congress members in pushing this bill?