WA Marijuana Laws

As you may know my state legalized marijuana in a referendum vote last November.

Which has caused all sorts of weird questions to come up. Our state governor and attorney general met with federal attorney general Eric Holder yesterday to talk about how this is going to work.

Marijuana is still classified as a controlled substance federally. States can pass laws which trump federal laws, but this raises all sorts of bewildering questions.

For instance, people convicted of a felony cannot get a license here to grow pot -- even if that felony was for growing pot.

For instance, although its legal to toke up now, employers can still fire you for possession or use of pot.

For instance, they're still figuring out if the cops can ticket you for DUI if the officer smells pot. They don't know how they would administer a test to determine impairment.

For instance, what happens at the border to British Columbia or the borders to Idaho or Oregon. Can you car be searched leaving the state? What about coming in?

Many fascinating legal conundrums.

It is a sticky situation, isn't it?

In this shitty little right-wing county where I live, the sheriff's department spends a lot of time going around busting legal medical pot dispensaries (sometimes accompanied by DEA agents). They take great pains to make sure that everything in the office is damaged; not just the pot, but computers, furniture, anything they can fuck up. The local city cops bust people for possession of a roach, even when the guy has a prescription for the drug, and the state law says they cannot be arrested or ticketed for possession. State laws are constantly being violated by the police departments and the courts.

Where are all the right-wing states' rights advocates now?
And what happened to Obama's promise that the harassment of medical marijuana dispensaries would not happen under his administration?


I almost forgot: If I send you my address can you ship me an ounce of the good shit?

Why not just treat it like alcohol? To me, they make it sound complex but it isn't. How do you determine impairment? The same way you would with alcohol. If a person is so fucked up or tired from toking that they can't function no they shouldn't be in the damn car. The federal law needs to just be written away. Take it off schedule 1, schedule 1 is preposterous. Just do it. Shove it through, do it through department policy, exec order I don't care just shove it through as a technical thing and don't make a big deal of it. "Taking it off schedule 1" won't sound as threatening on the nightly news as "legalizing drugs". It's way past time, the whole prohibition thing is such a sham.

_Howard wrote:

Where are all the right-wing states' rights advocates now?

That too. Where is that love for small government now?

NoCoPilot wrote:

States can pass laws which trump federal laws, but this raises all sorts of bewildering questions.

No they can't. It's called the supremacy clause. Please learn about your own country before having such strong opinions about it. Frankly it is no wonder that the US is going down the shitter.

So no, no bewildering questions whatsoever. You are only bewildered because you don't really have the vaguest grasp of what's going on.

_Howard wrote:

It is a sticky situation, isn't it?

In this shitty little right-wing county where I live, the sheriff's department spends a lot of time going around busting legal medical pot dispensaries (sometimes accompanied by DEA agents). They take great pains to make sure that everything in the office is damaged; not just the pot, but computers, furniture, anything they can fuck up. The local city cops bust people for possession of a roach, even when the guy has a prescription for the drug, and the state law says they cannot be arrested or ticketed for possession. State laws are constantly being violated by the police departments and the courts.

Not really. They want to send a message.

Last night as my bus dropped me off at the Park & Ride garage, I descended the staircase to the lower level and found 4 young men skateboarding. They greeted me politely (I've seen them there before) and I did the same.

The funny part is, they all had marijuana joints in their lips, and the smell of pot was overwhelming in that enclosed space.

Huh, I thought. Never thought I'd see THIS day.

WDGann wrote:

No they can't. It's called the supremacy clause. Please learn about your own country before having such strong opinions about it. Frankly it is no wonder that the US is going down the shitter.

So no, no bewildering questions whatsoever. You are only bewildered because you don't really have the vaguest grasp of what's going on.

Gann:

Feel free to correct me but this kind of disrespectful attitude is not going to be tolerated here. If you wish to engage in that level of discussion please take your business to DU.

You are correct Noco. I came across a bit shitty - we all do it eh?

I was trying to make my point forcefully, however, that whatever the fed.gov decides goes in respect of drugs. State law, as a practical matter, is irrelevant.

We would like to lighten it up a bit here, WD, but I think it will take some of us a while to really get in the hang of it. (Myself included) so no hard feelings, man. Just relax and have fun.

It is a weird situation though because while you are right, WD we do have that supremacy clause there are a lot of states pushing back against the feds on a lot of issues right now from pot to healthcare to guns. Right now there are states trying to pass laws that say it will be illegal to enforce federal law there, so exactly how all this plays out is in questions I think. We have a very conservative SCOTUS right now that might be inclined to agree with some of these states' rights arguments.

WDGann wrote:

You are correct Noco. I came across a bit shitty - we all do it eh?

We all poop too. There are appropriate and inappropriate places to do it. Spirited discussions do not need to devolve to name calling.

WDGann wrote:

I was trying to make my point forcefully, however, that whatever the fed.gov decides goes in respect of drugs. State law, as a practical matter, is irrelevant.

Explain my state's new laws then.